


Reality Check

by notgeorgelucas



Category: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, The Real Ghostbusters
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-04-19
Packaged: 2018-05-30 05:51:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 66,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6411397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notgeorgelucas/pseuds/notgeorgelucas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something strange is going on in Angel Grove: monsters, witches, giant robots and other high weirdness. When three former Power Rangers request the Ghostbusters' assistance to find out what's really happening, all hell breaks loose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

 

It was a typical summer day in Angel Grove; the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and a giant monster was menacing the city.

But first, a little background:

The Angel Grove Youth Center was buzzing with people; it was the site of the “Book Fair”, where people could donate all their old, unwanted books and pick up new ones at low prices.  In addition, they could buy a delicious fruit beverage from the chubby proprietor known as Ernie and browse along the heavily laden tables set up in the multipurpose area. Proceeds from the driver were going toward purchasing new books for the Angel Grove Library’s children’s section.

The drive had been set up by one of the high school’s brightest students, a lovely, energetic, and highly organized young woman named Aisha. She bounced from table to table, checking to make sure everything was running smoothly and pouncing upon any problems that might come up.

“So, how are we doing?” she asked one of the table monitors. Her dark skin contrasted sharply with the bright yellow blouse and matching shorts she was wearing. “Any problems, Adam?”

The handsome Asian teenager grinned and shook his head. “None at all. Rocky and I are doing just fine.” He dusted off his black muscle shirt and laughed as another young man, this one decked in a red T-shirt, staggered over to table. He was carrying a huge box of books in his arms and looked utterly relieved at having reached his haven.

“Just fine. Yeah, right,” Rocky snorted. “You could have helped, you know.”

“You lost the toss,” Adam reminded him with a grin.

“Yeah, well... ” Just then a very shapely blonde teenager, exquisitely clad in bikini top and bicycle pants, came up to the table with a smaller, lighter box. She smiled brightly at Rocky, who melted under the intensity. “Hey, Rocky, thanks for carrying that in for me. I really appreciate it.” She rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek and another smile. “I’ve got a few more in the car. If you wouldn’t mind, I could really use some more help... ” She walked away; Adam and Rocky watched her go, mesmerized.

They abruptly snapped out of their trances and stared at one another for a minute, then Adam whipped out a coin. “Call it.”

“Heads.”

“No fair. I was going to call heads.”

“Then you should have called first,” Rocky pointed out.

“I was trying to be fair,” Adam retorted.

“If you were trying to be fair,” Aisha pointed out as she snatched the coin out of Adam’s hand, “you wouldn’t be using a two-headed coin.” She held it up for Rocky to see, twisting it around so he could see Lincoln’s head on both sides.

“Why do you think I called heads?” Rocky replied.

“Ohhh...” Aisha shook her head. “Go on, both of you. The more help, the better. I’ll stay here until you’re done.” They vanished in streaks of red and black; Aisha smiled and quickly set to work on getting the new books out on the table. So involved was she that she didn’t immediately notice the couple in front of her.

“Hello? Earth to Aisha?” grinned the pretty brunette. Her pink leotard and blouse was a perfect compliment to her boyfriend’s bright white shirt and jams.

“What?” Aisha looked up and blinked. “Oh, hi Kim! Sorry. I didn’t hear you come up.” She smiled brightly at her friends. “So...dropping off or picking up?”

“Like, most of the books I’ve got, no one would want,” Kim sighed. “I don’t think most kids are ready for Harlequin Romances, y’know?”

Tommy made a face and winced. “Shoot--I had some stuff, but I left them in my gym bag.” He smiled apologetically. “Need any help?”

“Always,” Aisha nodded. “If you guys work this table, that frees Rocky and Adam up to unload cars.”

“Like the blonde with the convertible outside?” Kim laughed. “Would you believe they’re trying to prove which one can carry the most books at once?”

“Nothing would surprise me where those two are concerned,” Aisha conceded. Just then a bespectacled teenager, laden with hardcovers, came up to the table. “So, what do you have for the fair, Billy?” she asked.

“Some of the textbooks I read in grade school,” he replied, dusting off his blue coveralls. “I really don’t have much use for them these days, and thought they might help someone become more interested in science or mathematics.”

Kimberly had opened one up and was thumbing through the pages. “Like, Billy, this stuff is tougher than the class I took last semester,” she said in disbelief.

“Really?” He peered over her shoulder and shrugged. “I thought it was remarkably simple, myself.” But before Kim could comment further, a sudden commotion rippled through the room. As the four teenagers watched, the crowd parted so that Angel Grove High’s resident bullies could pass by. Bulk and Skull snickered derisively at the display of fear...or disgust, and strutted up to Aisha’s table.

“So, geeks, how’s your stupid book fair going?” Bulk picked up one of Billy’s books and flipped it open, breaking the spine in the process. Billy started to intercept the rotund bully, but his skinny comrade quickly blocked the way. “Geez, not one picture in this! If I’d had to read this stuff as a kid, I’d probably be as dorky as you!” Bulk crowed.

Tommy smoothly snatched the book out of Bulk’s hands and gave him a long, hard stare. “If you’d learned how to read at all, Bulk, you might border on being human.”

“Hey, I know how to read!” Bulk roughly nudged Kimberly aside and bellied up to the table; he gave the stacks a frantic glance, trying to find something he could tackle without looking bad. Meanwhile, Skull was giggling his trademark high-pitched wail, trying hard to look tough for Kimberly but not too tough for Tommy to take on. It was a difficult undertaking.

Aisha fixed a long-suffering glare upon Bulk. “See anything you’d like?” she asked with saccharine-sweet tones.

“Uhhh...uhhh....” Suddenly his eyes widened, and he lunged forward to pick up an old, battered cardboard book. “It’s Pat the Bunny!” he cried in triumph. “I remember this! I did a book report on it last year!” He waved it wildly at his best (and only) friend. “Skull! It’s Pat the Bunny!”

Skull’s eyes popped out of his head. “Really? You found a copy?” He pressed himself against Bulk’s shoulder. “Read it to me again, Bulk. I can’t remember how it ends. Please? Please please please?”

“It’s all yours, guys,” Aisha declared. The bullies stumbled away, transfixed by the stirring saga in their hands; Kim and Tommy shook their heads and tried not to laugh too loudly as they watched the odd couple leave.

Suddenly four wrist pagers went off, emitting an odd, catching six-note tune. Billy, Aisha, Kimberly and Tommy glanced at each other and quickly made their way through the crowds to the hallway leading to the locker rooms. Rocky and Adam were waiting for them.

Tommy lifted his pager to his mouth. “What is it, Alpha?”

A high-pitched, whiny voice answered him. “Ay-yi-yi, Tommy! Zedd’s sent the Penny Dreadful down to Angel Grove!”

“Can you get a fix on him?” Billy asked, squinting and looking around.

“It looks like he’s somewhere in the city park!” Moments later, the sextet had left the youth center, rollerblading purposefully through the streets of Angel Grove.  No sooner had they reached the park playground area, though, then a flash of light exploded nearby. When their eyes cleared, the teenagers found a team of gray, gibbering creatures approaching them, their intentions plainly ominous.

“Putties!” gasped Aisha.

“Let’s do it,” declared Tommy tightly. And so, instead of doing the logical thing--i.e., screaming and hightailing it in the opposite direction--the sextet stormed forward and engaged the man-sized monsters. Tommy bellowed a battle cry and leaped into the air, dispatching the lead putty with a devastating flying kick. The creature fell backwards and slammed into the ground; seconds later, its body fell apart, then vanished.

Kimberly and Billy performed a series of backward flips that drew a trio of pursuers closer. Then, without warning, they pushed off their hands into the air, grabbed hold of a convenient tree branch, and whipped around in a perfect arc. The putties flew backwards and disintegrated instantly.

Aisha growled as a putty snatched her from behind, then used her captor as leverage so that she could destroy its partner, which was approaching directly ahead. She then used the momentum from the kick to good advantage, flipping her self over the putty’s head and dislodging herself from its grip in the process. A few well-placed blows later, there was one less putty menacing Angel Grove.

Rocky and Adam somehow managed to trap a pair of putties on the playground merry-go-round. They each grabbed a bar and started running, making it spin faster and faster. Inevitably the putties lost their grip and went flying through the air, smashing into the ground and falling apart instantly.

Once they were satisfied the threat was over, the teenage team regrouped. “You okay, Tommy?” asked Kimberly.

“Yeah, I’m fine, Kim. Everyone else?”

“We’re cool,” Rocky assured him.  “Looks like Zedd’s up to no good again.”

“So what else is new?” Adam pointed out.

There was a sudden flash from nearby, and standing before the teenagers was...well, basically, it was a giant penny with arms and legs, carrying a huge white staff. Lincoln’s face turned to face them. “Fourscore and seven years from now, I’ll be telling everyone how I led Lord Zedd’s invasion and destroyed his greatest enemies!”

Kimberly rolled her eyes. “Like, this is really reaching, y’know?”

“Amen,” Aisha nodded. “Zedd’s losing his touch.”

“Were Rita’s monsters this bad?” Rocky said, shaking his head.

“Discuss Zedd’s style later,” Tommy ordered. “Right now...IT’S MORPHIN’ TIME!”

The teenagers reached behind their backs in one fluid movement, then held out six small metallic devices as one. Their voices called out: “MASTODON!” “TRICERATOPS!” “PTERODACTYL!” “SABER-TOOTHED TIGER!” “TIGERZORD!” “TYRANNOSAURUS!”  And with another flash of light and power, where six teenagers had been there now stood The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers.

“GET HIM!” The spandex-covered heroes leaped into battle, surrounding the bizarre creature and attacking from all angles. The monster flailed about wildly, every so often smacking a Ranger away, but it quickly realized that new tactics were needed. Without warning it vanished--causing a near collision between the Black and Red Rangers--and reappeared a few yards away. Laughing maniacally, it raised its staff into the air and unleashed an incredible barrage of energy. It slammed into the Rangers and sent them flying backwards.

“Oh man!” Tommy, the White Ranger, yelled as he rose to his feet. “This one’s got a kick to him!”

“How about using the Power Gun?” Rocky asked as he raised his Power Sword high into the air.

“Sounds good. Give it a try, guys!” Piece by piece, the Rangers combined their individual weapons--Power Axe, Power Bow, Power Lance, Power Knives, and Power Sword--into one huge gun, then fired at the Penny Dreadful. It screamed angrily as the rays drove it back.  And then, without warning, a small bomb fell from the sky; the monster took it into his hands and popped it.

One explosion later, the Penny Dreadful had grown several sizes and was now stomping toward downtown Angel Grove.

“Oh wow,” Kimberly, the Pink Ranger, groaned. “I thought we had him that time.”

“We need the Zords!” cried Adam, the Black Ranger. The others nodded in agreement, then stretched their right arms out into the sky and cried, “WE NEED DINOSAUR POWER, NOW!”

Within moments six massive constructs, resembling a griffin, dragon, lion, unicorn, firebird and tiger, had arrived from out of nowhere. The Rangers leaped into their Zords and wasted no time in assembling the individual pieces into the Megathunderzord.  Tommy, in his White Tigerzord, switched his own machine into Warrior Mode and waited for his team to finish. Then the Power Rangers hurried to catch up with the Penny Dreadful, who had already destroyed several (fortunately long-abandoned) buildings and was looking for something else to trash.

When the monster turned around and spotted the two Zords approaching, the Lincoln-face smiled evilly and with a hearty cackle swung the staff forward, sending a massive burst of energy toward the constructs.  The blast hit with a blinding flash, and the Rangers tumbled from their positions within the Megathunderzord.  The White Tigerzord had managed to take only a glancing blow, though, and rumbled forward, the White Ranger guiding its every move.

“Okay, big guy, you’re about to become chump change!” the White Ranger declared as he sent a volley of crimson fireballs flying. They slammed into the Penny Dreadful and knocked it off its feet. It smashed into a long-abandoned building as it fell, sending a cloud of dust and fragments into the air. By the time the monster had regained its equilibrium, though, the Megathunderzord had recovered and was rapidly moving into killing position.

“Let’s do it!” shouted the Red Ranger. The Megathunderzord unsheathed its samurai sword and lifted it high. For some inexplicable reason, the Penny Dreadful chose a wild, kamikaze attack, running headfirst toward the Megathunderzord and screaming inane threats at the top of its lungs. The samurai sword descended with a long, sweeping arc into and through the monster, causing the Penny Dreadful to fall backwards one final time and explode.

The Power Rangers had once again triumphed over the evil minions of Lord Zedd.

Just a typical summer day in Angel Grove, California.


	2. Rangers, Meet the Ghostbusters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ghostbusters receive a visit from three teenagers with attitude who are worried about the state of things in their home town.

Janine Melnitz smiled to herself as she gave the just-arrived vase of roses a tender caress.  Who’d have thought that Egon would remember the anniversary of their first date, much less that the unlikely couple would have stayed together this long? And yet they’d somehow managed to forge a wonderful relationship despite their individual foibles and their crazy line of work, and day-by-day Egon Spengler managed to surprise her in new ways.

“Nice flowers,” Peter commented as he passed by her desk. “What’s the occasion? Paycheck cleared?”

Janine snorted. “No, Dr. Venkman. It’s for something you’ll never celebrate unless you settle down,” she replied as she settled behind her desk and switched her computer on.  “Dana isn’t going to wait forever, you know?”

Peter’s head popped out from around the file cabinet. “Hey, you worry about your mad scientist, let Dana worry about hers.”  A sly grin appeared on his face. “Say, haven’t you and the Crazed Genius reached the one-year milestone as of today?”

“As a matter of fact, we have,” she said placidly, typing her password into the computer. It was the German word for ‘incubus’, suggested by Egon one evening after Janine had found Peter messing with her word processing settings for his own nefarious purposes.

“Really? That’s great.  Tell you what...” Two tickets magically appeared in Peter’s right hand. “Just so happens I have a couple of tickets for tonight’s performance of  ‘Beauty and the Beast’, and Dana and I couldn’t get a babysitter tonight. You guys want to go? Otherwise I gotta give ‘em to Ray, and he’ll bawl during the death scene and embarrass everybody.”  He’d never forgotten--nor forgiven--his partner’s blubbing during the Ghostbusters’ viewing of the Disney movie.

“Well...okay.” Egon hadn’t mentioned any plans, and if it turned out he had other ideas about how to spend the evening, she could give them to Ray as payback.  “Thanks, Doctor Venkman. If you’ll ever get around to paying me, this job will be perfect.”

“There are beautiful women all over New York just dying to work here for free,” Peter declared, vanishing from sight as he headed for his office.

“Yeah, but they all wind up in the containment,” she retorted, and set to work on the latest round of “Pay Up Or We Return Your Spook” letters. Amazing how few of these she’d had to send out since Peter and Winston had made good on the threat with a few of the more recalcitrant customers. Just then the door to the firehouse opened, though, and she turned in her seat to face the visitor.

Correction--visitors.  Three teenagers were walking toward her, two boys and one girl.  Their steps were slow and uncertain, and they glanced around warily, as if expecting something nasty to fly out of the shadows at any second. One of the boys, a handsome-looking, dark-haired fellow wearing a red shirt and matching pants, was just ahead of the other two, which probably made him the ringleader.

Janine sighed and waited for them to reach her desk. She wondered idly if this was a charity request, a response to a dare or tourists in search of a tour. She’d bet on the latter two options; they didn’t look or act like New Yorkers. Nice looking kids, all the same, she nodded to herself, especially the dark-haired guy. Yum.

“Excuse me,” Mr. Yum said to her with a shy smile.  “This is Ghostbusters, isn’t it?”

“Sure is,” she grinned. “Sign give us away?”

They grinned back, and the leader blushed slightly, which only served to make him cuter.  Ah, lust, Janine sighed silently. “What can I do for you?” she continued.

“We’re here to see Dr. Spengler,” the girl, a sweet-looking Oriental dressed in a pleasant yellow blouse and dress, said softly.  “Is he available?”

“Well, he’s here, but he’s very busy,” Janine replied. “Can you tell me what this concerns?”

The three teens glanced at one another warily. The other male, a slender African-American, nodded to the other guy in encouragement. “Well...we wanted to talk to him about our friend. His name’s Billy.”

Janine nodded brightly. “Isn’t he the kid in California?”

“Yeah,” the black guy nodded eagerly. “He talked about his Uncle Egon all the time. See...” He caught himself and smiled. “Let me start from the beginning. My name’s Zack; this is Jason, and she’s Trini. We’re coming back from the Teen World Peace Conference in Europe, and we had some layover time to kill, and so...”

“Ah.” Janine nodded sagely; Egon had shown her several letters from his nephew, and upon reflection she remembered a few of those names, especially the girl’s. Kind of cute, and looked like she had plenty of on the ball. “Why don’t you sit down and I’ll go get him,” she said, rising to her feet. “I’m sure we could give you a tour of the place, take you out to lunch...”

“Miss Melnitz?” said the girl in an odd tone of voice; it caused Janine to stop midway up the stairs and look down at the trio. “We’re not really here for a visit,” she continued. “We think there’s a problem in Angel Grove, and Billy might be in danger...”

* * * * *

Egon sat at the head of the dining table; Jason and Zack sat on the left side, Janine and Trini on the right. His ever-present PKE meter lay within arm’s reach, but for the moment he was content to sit with his hands resting on the table as he listened.  Only Janine recognized the slightest narrowing of his usually serious features that hinted at the concern he felt for his relative.

Jason glanced over at Trini and Zack for a long moment before clearing his throat nervously. “Ummm,” he began uncertainly. “I...guess you’ve heard of the Power Rangers?”

Egon frowned. “Not really. Should I have?”

“What?” Zack exploded, his eyes wide with disbelief as he rose to his feet. “We’ve been fighting Rita and Zedd’s monsters for two years now! That kind of stuff makes headlines, you know! And you’re saying you’ve never heard of us?”

“Zack,” Trini pleaded quietly. “Please sit down.”  The young man stared at his friend for a moment, then sat down with a sheepish expression on his face. “Dr. Spengler,” Trini continued, “with all due respect, I find it hard to believe you haven’t heard of the Rangers. As Zack said, we’ve been...visible.”

“I’m sorry,” Egon said with a shake of his head. “But rest assured Ray and I keep a close watch on the news for unusual phenomena, and this is the first time I’ve ever heard of...‘power rangers’.”

The teens glanced at each other again, caught off-balance by Egon’s matter-of-fact dismissal of something that obviously held great import for them. Janine leaned forward and smiled at Jason. “That doesn’t mean he catches everything,” she said with a wink. “He’s been kept kinda busy the last year.”

Jason nodded and smiled back, but the grin was tinged with an uneasy concern.  “Okay.  I guess I’d better start from the top.  About two years ago, a bunch of us were teleported to this command center, where we met Zordon...” He proceeded to explain the incredible story the Rangers’ wise, bodiless mentor had related to them about an evil witch named Rita Repulsa, freed after a ten thousand-year imprisonment, how she was out to conquer the planet in revenge, and how he had chosen the five of them to be granted great powers to be used in defense of their world. “We didn’t believe him at first, but right after we left, we got attacked by Rita’s putties. We realized he’d been telling us the truth, so we went back and accepted his offer...and became the Power Rangers.”

“Putties?” asked Janine.

“Grey guys, kinda rubbery, pretty much useless except as nuisances,” Zack answered with a smile.  “They were Rita’s foot soldiers, first wave of attack. They were usually followed up by her ‘Monster du Jour’.”

“So...tell me more about being a ‘Power Ranger’,” Egon ordered, the furrow in his brow deepening. Janine felt her cheery mood fading; the expression on Egon’s face boded ill.

“Zordon linked us to the Morphing Grid,” Trini explained. “We were given symbolic ‘totems’, so to speak, of ancient animals of great power.  My totem was the saber-toothed tiger, Jason’s was the tyrannosaurus, Zack’s the mastodon...”

“Kim had the pterodactyl and Billy the triceratops,” Jason completed. “So when we morphed, we had extra strength and abilities, and weapons...”

“...And if we needed ‘em, we could call on our Zords,” Zack jumped in eagerly.  “They were machines made up to look like our totems, and if we needed to, we could link ‘em together to form one big Megazord.”

“Zords,” Egon murmured softly.  His fingers were drifting toward his PKE meter. “Morphing Grid. Fascinating.”

“Later on, we got a sixth ranger--Tommy. He started out evil, under Rita’s spell, but we broke it and he became the Green Ranger. He had a Zord all to himself--the Dragonzord.  But his powers were never too stable--they kept cutting in and out--and eventually, they faded completely.  But Zordon gave him new powers and he became the White Ranger,” Jason explained.

“So you fought this Rita person for...what, two years?” Janine asked.

“Actually, only one year,” Zack answered. “She got kicked out by Lord Zedd. He was a lot tougher--we had to go to new, more powerful Zords just to keep up the fight.”

“So...what happened?” Janine pressed. “You keep saying ‘we’, yet here you are. What’s going on in Angel Grove now?”

“We...don’t know,” Jason reluctantly admitted.

“We were selected for the World Teen Peace Conference,” Trini explained. “Zordon transferred our morphing abilities to three others just before we left. So far as we know, they’re still fighting Zedd, along with Billy, Kim and Tommy.” Her face fell for a brief moment. “We...haven’t stayed in touch much.”

Egon had picked the PKE meter up and was fiddling with it.  “Yet you claim that they might be in some sort of danger,” he noted.

“We’re not sure,” Jason confessed. “It’s just...not long after we arrived at the conference, we started noticing things.  Things felt...different, somehow. It’s hard to explain.”

“Life in Angel Grove seemed much simpler, much more...” Trini struggled to find an appropriate word. “...well, _wholesome_ , I guess.”

Zack took up the line of conversation. “Yeah. I noticed that a lot of the kids were doing things I’d never even thought about doing--drugs, sex, that kind of stuff. They weren’t even being all that discreet about it. I got offered all kinds of things--I mean, that kind of stuff never went on at Angel Grove High School. Never!”

“Anyway,” Jason said, “the more we saw, the more we wondered just what the heck was going on--why we were so different. And when we wrote to the others--Kim, Tommy and Billy, the letters we got back were...” He handed Janine a folded-up pile of notebook paper.  “Here. See for yourself.”

Janine carefully unfolded the wad and started reading. By the fifth letter she was ready to explode with indignation. “This is terrible! I thought you said these people were your friends!”

“That’s what we thought, too,” Zack said tiredly. “It didn’t make any sense. And it was like none of the other kids had ever heard of the Power Rangers, either--but I just figured it was because they were from other places. I guess I was wrong about that, too.”

“The other night, we noticed that we were going to have a long layover in New York,” Jason picked up the line of conversation. “I’d remembered all the stuff Billy had said about you, Dr. Spengler, and...well, it just seemed to us like something weird was going on, and you and your friends specialize in weirdness...”

“Hmmm.”  Egon looked up from his meter.  “Would you mind terribly if I were to take some radiation readings from you?”

“Radiation?” Trini said in alarm.  “Why...”

“You had said that your...powers...came from some sort of energy grid,” Egon explained. “It would therefore follow that your bodies would retain some traces of that energy, regardless of how long it’s been since you last accessed that ‘grid’. I’d like to take some readings and pinpoint the radiation frequency. It might be useful later.”

“Well...” Trini said uncertainly. Jason, however, stood up and made a gesture of acquiescence; Egon carefully played the meter along his body, making minute adjustments to the controls from time to time. Zack stood up and allowed himself to be the second one studied, and finally Trini gave in, though the expression on her face was far from pleased.

“Dr. Spengler,” she said when Egon had finished. “This...radiation...could it possibly have a damaging effect on us? I mean, cancer, that sort of thing?”

He looked up from his hastily scribbled notes and pondered the question. “At this point, I couldn’t say one way or the other,” he finally replied. “We’re all bombarded with one kind of radiation or another every day. Until I’ve had time to study the ‘morphing radiation’, for lack of a better term, I couldn’t really tell you more than that.”

“Oh,” Trini said softly. Jason and Zack were standing nearby, talking quietly to themselves but obviously paying close attention to Egon’s statement. Janine quickly sized up the situation as getting too intense and decided a bit of comic relief was in order.

“Oh, don’t let it worry you,” Janine assured the teenagers with a wink and a smile. “I’ve been exposed to PKE for years now, and all it’s done is make me really attractive to ghosts.  I bring ‘em in like catnip.”

Jason stepped forward. “So, Dr. Spengler...what do you think?”

Egon pushed his glasses back up his hawkish nose and studied the three teens. “I believe you,” he said quietly. “I think there’s enough evidence to warrant a visit to Angel Grove and see what’s going on.  I’d like to do some background research first, however, before we go in, and there may be a few more tests Ray and I would like to run on the three of you. Janine, can you take care of their tickets so that they can stay another day or so?”

“Sure,” Janine nodded. “No problem.”

“But...we don’t have any money for a hotel room,” Trini protested.

“Not a problem,” Janine assured her. “You can stay with me, and Jason and Zack can stay here. No big deal.”

“We don’t want to cause any trouble...” Jason began.

“You aren’t. We tend to keep odd hours this time of year,” Egon replied. “I imagine we’ll need to run by LaGuardia to pick up your luggage--we’ll do that when Ray and Winston get back with ECTO-1.  Janine, I’m going to need an airline ticket to Angel Grove along with them.”

“I’ll call and make the reservations,” she agreed.  “Two tickets to Angel Grove...”

Egon looked up in surprise. “No. Just one.”

“I’m going with you.” He opened his mouth to protest, but she gave him the patented Melnitz Stare that had forced dozens of salesmen, cranks, weirdos and bill collectors to retreat with their tails between their legs. “And we’ll need a room at a decent hotel...”

“Two rooms,” Egon pointed out firmly.

She glared at him intently. “One. Room. Egon.”

He glanced worriedly toward the teenagers, who were politely pretending they hadn’t heard a word. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to advertise the fact we’re...you know...?”

“I’ve got no reason to be ashamed, Egon. Do _you_?”

“No,” he said, desperately pleading. “But Janine, think about how it would look...especially if Angel Grove is in the grip of some sort of ‘wholesome’ spell.”

She considered that for a time, then reluctantly nodded. “Two rooms,” she conceded, then her eyes flashed. “Connecting rooms.”

“Done.”


	3. Home Again, Home Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zack, Trini and Jason return to Angel Grove, where things are just as they always were.

Jason, Trini and Zack were the last ones off the plane. They paused just outside the 747's door and looked warily at one another.  “This is silly,” Trini commented, but she stayed where she was.

“I know,” Zack nodded. “I mean, they aren’t going to be there waiting for us. Not after the things they said in those letters. And even if they are, they wouldn’t try anything. Would they?”

Trini took a deep breath. “Look,” she said with a resolve she did not feel. “Our parents are waiting for us. We’ll all go home, have dinner, go to bed, and in the morning we’ll probably realize we were worrying about nothing. It’s all been in our imaginations--culture shock, being away for so long, being around all these strangers. We just need some time to readjust. We’re home. It’s going to be okay. Right, Jason?”

Jason said nothing for a long time; his eyes seemed fixed on some distant horizon only he could see.  Finally he nodded at his friends and took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

To their relief, the only people standing there were their parents. The three teenagers were quickly engulfed in family embraces and rapid-fire conversations about how much they’d been missed, how was the trip, what was Germany like, and a thousand other questions and answers about nothing in particular.  They picked up their luggage from the carousels, headed to their respective cars, and left the airport for home, each looking out the window at the passing scenery and thinking how nothing had changed in the meantime, and yet everything had.

Under the circumstances, they could be forgiven for not noticing the young Oriental woman who had been standing a short distance from the arrival gate. To be honest, while she was very attractive, there was nothing else that particularly set her apart from the crowd, unless one happened to make eye contact. Then someone might shiver as an eerie sensation came from the girl’s gaze, something akin to timelessness that, as soon as it hit, made one look away hurriedly.

She waited until she was sure they’d gone, then left the airport herself, her gait strong and steady, almost reminiscent of a soldier.

* * * * *

No one noticed the nondescript sanitation engineer who was aimlessly wandering around the terminal with his equipment cart, either. If anyone had bothered to keep an eye on the man in the grey jumpsuit, he or she might have noticed that while the worker appeared to be quite busy, he never actually _did_ anything . . . except follow the three families down to the luggage retrieval area, his eyes locked upon the three teenagers who’d just arrived.

The worker was in fact performing a valuable function for someone. From his citadel on the moon’s surface, Lord Zedd, master of all things evil and despicable, gazed through his minion’s eyes and clenched his skinless fist tightly. Nearby, his chief lieutenant, a huge winged gorilla decked out in golden armor, paced anxiously from one end of the main chamber to the other, waiting for his master’s orders.

Zedd hissed as he recognized the teenagers. “So . . . ” he hissed through his chrome mask. “They have returned.”

The monkey, Goldar by name, jumped to attention. “What is it, my dread master?” he growled happily. “Who has returned?”

“The three original Rangers, you fool.” Zedd leaned back against his throne and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He was an odd sight, looking very much like a walking version of the “your body’s muscle system” illustrations found in a high school biology textbook. Skinless, clad only in a chrome exo-skeleton that connected to his faceplate, Zedd was nonetheless an intimidating, terrifying sight. “So . . . ” he repeated. “Zordon calls his children home, no doubt to prepare for one final assault against me.”

“Let me lead my putty army against them, Lord!” Goldar pleaded. He unsheathed his sword and waved it wildly through the air, letting it punctuate each word with a brutal swipe. “Let me purge us of the Power Rangers once and for all!”

“Yes, yes,” Zedd nodded absently, waving his hand for silence. “But not just yet. Let Zordon show his hand first. Then we will unleash all our forces at once, crushing his pitiful team once and for all! And once that has been accomplished, the rest of the planet is ours for the taking!”

“An excellent plan, my Lord!” Goldar cried, ever adaptable to his master’s whims. “I will be proud to lead the assault! Say the word and I shall begin gathering your servants!”

“Not just yet,” Zedd snapped. “It is too soon. Zordon might be monitoring our every move. I do not want to alert him that we know his ultimate plan. Let us continue to watch and wait for the right moment to strike.” He flicked his power wand slightly, and in response a portal shimmered into existence before him. A moment later, and his putty-eyed view of the airport came into view; they watched as Jason bent down to pick up his bags.

Goldar’s grip tightened around his sword. “Yessss ...” he hissed softly. “Red Ranger. I have much to repay you for . . . ”

“When the moment is right,” Zedd growled, “you will have him all to yourself. For now, we watch and wait.”

“As my Lord wishes,” Goldar said, bowing to his master but still watching Jason with hungry, eager eyes.

* * * * *

“Do you want to go to Ernie’s?” Trini’s father had asked. In fact, her mouth had been watering for one of his bizarre but incredibly delicious creations, but the thought of running into . . . _them_ . . . put a chill in her belly. She opted instead for Wardell’s Steak House and hoped that the salad bar was as good as she remembered. Along the way she stared out the window and realized to her shock that Zack had been right--there was not a single McDonald’s in Angel Grove. Odd how she’d never noticed that before.

The waiter, a handsome, clean-cut guy that Trini vaguely remembered from school, took their order.  While the rest of her family ordered steaks or burgers, Trini chose to stick to the salad bar.  Her mother peered over her bifocals and studied her daughter. “Young lady,” she said in mock disapproval, “at these prices, you do not drag us out here and then choose a vegetarian meal.”

“I’m sorry,” Trini apologized. “I need to watch my weight. I put so much on in Germany.”

“Where?” demanded her younger brother Jackie. He regarded her thin frame carefully.  “The only extra weight you brought home is in your suitcase--I know it was lighter when you left!” Everyone laughed heartily and dug into their meal, and so caught up was her family in the wonderful stories she told about her trip that no one noticed Trini’s plate was still relatively untouched when they left the restaurant.

Trini showed them her pictures and handed out her souvenir gifts, then pleaded exhaustion and went upstairs to bed. She changed into a nightgown and padded into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Before she left, though, she quickly stepped on the bathroom scale and peered at the digital readout. Relieved at the results, she sighed and returned to her room.

She was about to turn off the lights when she spotted a picture on her desk.  Trini walked over and picked it up, staring at the six smiling faces in the shot.  It had been taken only weeks before she, Jason and Zack had left for the conference. How could so much have changed in so short a time? How could everything have fallen apart so quickly, so irreparably?

Her eyes drifted unwillingly to her nightstand. A small figurine of a robotic saber-toothed tiger stood watch beside the bed. It had been a present from Billy, who had somehow managed to persuade Alpha into giving him the plans, tools and materials to build a miniature version of her beloved Zord as a goodbye gift. She had been touched beyond measure by the gift. How could Billy--kind, gentle, Billy-- have turned around and written such hateful things to her only weeks later?

Trini sniffed back her tears and turned off the light. But before she closed her eyes, she reached over and plucked the tiny Zord from the nightstand, clutching it tightly to her chest as she drifted off to sleep.

* * * * *

Zack took a deep breath and savored the incredible aroma, the indescribably delicious aroma, of barbeque, and knew that at long last he was home.

He sat outside on the back porch and watched his father baste--no, _caress_ \--the ribs and burgers on the grill with his homemade sauce, giving each piece loving attention.  Inside, his mother alternated between the corn on the cob, the mashed potatoes, the biscuits, and slapping the hands of his brothers and sisters whenever they attempted to snag a piece of chocolate cake.  Zack watched it all, breathed everything in with great relish and savored it. Be it ever so humble, there was no place like home.

“So,” his father said as he placed the lid back on the grill. “Meet any pretty girls over there?”

“A few,” Zack conceded.

“Get anywhere with ‘em?”

“Uhhh... ” A difficult question to answer; Zack could have gotten much, much further with a few of the ladies he’d charmed, had he been interested, but his mother had raised him to be a gentleman at all times, so he’d declined their invitations, no matter how aggressive they’d gotten. And a few had gotten very aggressive--there was the one who’d somehow gotten into his bedroom and had been waiting for him when he’d returned, wearing the covers and nothing else.

“Don’t worry,” the old man assured him with a wink. “I won’t press. Just hoped you treated them with respect.”

“I did, Dad.” Just then his mother appeared in the door, flashing a grin that meant something was up. “Mom?”

“Someone’s here to see you, Zack.” For a moment his heart froze, fearing that Tommy or Kimberly had found out about their return. And at the same time he felt angry that he’d be worried about them finding out--what would they do? What could they do, with his family right here around him?  Then he thought about the morphers, and the Zords, and the chill returned for a brief instant before his mother moved to one side and revealed . . .

“Angela!” Zack leaped to his feet and raced over to embrace her tightly.

* * * * *

Long after the Dinner of the Gods, Zack and Angela went for a moonlight walk.  For a long time neither said anything, merely strolled side by side down the sidewalk stealing shy glances at each other. Finally Zack offered his hand, and she accepted it with a bright smile and giggle.

“I’ve missed you,” she said softly.

“I’ve missed you,” he echoed.

“Oh, I’m _sure_ ,” she drawled. “I know you, Zack. You were dazzling every girl there from day one.”

“Not really. You’ve seen first-hand how ‘dazzling’ I can be when there’s a pretty girl involved.”

“I always found it kind of sweet, the way you stumbled all over yourself to impress me.  Kind of flattering, really.”  She blessed him with another shy, sweet smile, and they walked hand-in-hand around the block in companionly silence before returning to his house.  He motioned to the front porch swing, and she nodded.

Zack felt at peace. It didn’t matter how his old friends felt about him. None of that Power Ranger stuff mattered right now. He was home at last, sitting with a beautiful girl in a picture-perfect setting, and all was right with the world.

“Angela?” he found himself asking.

“Hmmm?” Her head was resting on his shoulder. Nice.

“Do . . . do you talk to Tommy, or Billy at all?”

“Not really. They all seem to keep to themselves, they and those three kids that came here at the beginning of the school year.  You know, Adam, Aisha and . . . Rocky?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“No reason.”  She lifted her head up and turned to examine his face closely.  Zack couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity; he slowly leaned over and kissed her softly, gently on the lips.

To his surprise and pleasure, she returned the kiss . . . with interest.

* * * * *

Jason’s mother had, as usual, surpassed herself with a magnificent feast.  She watched approvingly as he devoured three helpings of pot roast, mashed potatoes and green beans. “I knew they weren’t feeding you right over there,” she said as he downed his second glass of milk.

He shook his head and smiled. “The food was fine, Mom. I just skipped lunch today, that’s all.”

“Why ever for?” she demanded, shocked.

“Because I knew you’d be cooking dinner,” he replied with a wink. He was rewarded with a pleased smile from his mother and an approving nod from his father. Next came pumpkin pie for dessert--Jason’s favorite--and after helping his mother with the dishes, he sat down and told all the expected stories of how great the conference had been, all the wonderful people he’d met and the things he’d seen (complete with photos). It wasn’t until ten o’clock that he could plead exhaustion and head up to his room.

Jason shut the door behind him but did not turn the light on, preferring the light of the full moon for the moment. His mother had left his things untouched, unless you counted the periodic dusting. His fingers drifted across the numerous trophies he’d won at the martial arts tourneys, and as he touched each one he smiled, remembering each match with perfect recall. Then one particular trophy, smaller than the others, came into contact with his fingertips, and his hand shot back as if burned.  He stared at it for a long time, the smile no longer etched on his lips.

It was the award from the match where he’d met Tommy. They’d fought to a draw, and had afterwards jokingly agreed to trade off the award every six months.  They’d been opponents then, quickly became partners, almost brothers. And now . . . what?

Jason moved to his desk, where a framed picture sat on the top shelf. He picked it up and studied it.  There he was, standing proudly alongside his best friends. Kimberly. Billy. Zack. Trini.

Tommy.

He heard a soft sigh drift across the room and went to close the window, only to find it had been shut all along.

* * * * *

Angel Grove was ringed with a small mountain range. Nestled high in the midst of the most imposing hills sat a bizarre looking citadel. The architecture defied description; oddest of all, there wasn’t a single door to be found anywhere along the exterior. Most of the hikers and rock climbers who’d found it over the years gave it a long once-over, shrugged in bewilderment, and moved on.

Which was just the way the two inhabitants of the building wanted it.

Deep inside the building, two voices could be heard:

“Ay-yi-yi! They’ve come back!”

“I KNOW. IT CHANGES NOTHING.”


	4. A Wholesome Place To Live

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Egon and Janine arrive at Angel Grove and almost immediately realize something is very, very wrong.

Egon and Janine arrived in Angel Grove the next day. Their flight had been fairly uneventful save for an odd tingling sensation that struck about the time they reached the city limits. Janine shuddered and glanced over at Egon, but the scientist merely nodded thoughtfully to himself and muttered “Fascinating.” He wouldn’t elaborate further, much to her dismay.

They rented a car upon arrival and headed for their hotel. “Here you are, Dr. Spengler,” The front desk manager of the Angel Grove Holiday Inn said, handing him a key.  “Room 105. King sized bed, as you requested.”

“But...” He stole an angry look at Janine, but the redhead was just as flustered as he was. “Are you sure...?” he began to ask, but the manager suddenly recalled having a message waiting for Dr. Spengler and his wife.  Egon took the note and read it quickly, then thanked the manager and, taking Janine gently by the arm, hurried back to their rented car.

“What’s going on?” she demanded. “Egon, I swear I reserved two rooms!”

“I know.” He handed her the note:

_You’re not fooling anyone, you know, and we can’t afford two rooms. Have fun._

_Peter_

“This calls for special consideration on the perfect way to kill him when we get back,” Janine said with a smile. Egon returned it with one of his own, then drove around to the back of the building to their room. Once inside, Janine took charge of unpacking the suitcases while Egon brought in his equipment bag and began setting up shop. He’d brought a variety of research tools along--a spectra-gigameter, two of his wide-range PKE meters, a box or two of spare parts for those ‘just in case’ situations that always seemed to crop up--and in the center of his operations base sat his pride and joy--a slender laptop computer.

Egon had purchased it from a wholesale manufacturer with “the works”--maximum speed, maximum memory, maximum hard drive, internal modem, sound card, CD-ROM--and subsequently taken it to the Banzai Institute, where their computer wizards managed to juice it up even further. Peter had blessed it with a “Ghostbusters” logo on the back of the monitor and the sobriquet “Spooktop”, and Ray had loaded it with a multitude of programs that could come in handy while doing field research.  He had also, Egon had discovered to his dismay one dismal evening while they’d been stuck in a cheap hotel on their way to a call, loaded it up with DOOM and DOOM II. He’d also managed to set up a security system that prevented anyone from deleting the games.

The one thing that was missing from the entire setup was a printer. Whenever anyone asked him about it, Egon simply peered down through his glasses at the inquirer and said, “Print is dead.”  Besides, when you came equipped with a nearly photographic memory, paper copies were pretty much redundant.

Egon hooked up the modem line to the room’s secondary phone line--it had taken awhile, but the hotel industry had finally seen the light and listened to the pleadings of thousands of computer-laden travelers--and called up his standard diagnostic program to make sure the computer was working correctly. While it ran, he picked up one of the meters and went outside. Janine put the last of her outfits on a hanger and joined him. “What’s up?”

“Hmmm.”  Egon was studying the fluctuating needle on the base of the device. “This is interesting.”

Janine frowned. “Is this place haunted? That thing’s really jumping, Egon.”

“The meter’s not set up to track standard PKE.”  He shut the meter off and retracted its legs.  “I re-calibrated it before we left to pick up the ‘morphing grid’ radiation we found on those teenagers.”

“Are you saying this hotel’s got that radiation too?”

“No. The entire town is covered in a radiation similar enough to the one found on Billy’s friends that my meter can detect it, but it’s subtly different.  Fascinating.”  He stroked his chin thoughtfully. At that moment one of the hotel staff--from the look of it, the one with the strongest back and biceps--came puffing toward them. He was pulling a luggage rack bearing a huge shipping trunk with the instantly recognizable “Ghostbusters” logo on it.

Janine winced as the young man gently maneuvered the cart into the room and placed the heavy trunk in an unoccupied corner. “Here,” she said with a warm smile as she tipped him generously. “Find yourself a good chiropractor, and thanks, okay?”

By the time she’d shooed him out the door, Egon already had the trunk open and was inspecting the contents.  “Excellent,” he nodded to himself as he ran a quick check on the proton pack inside.  “No damage at all.” He lifted the pack out of the carrier and set it on the bed. “I was thinking that we ought to keep this in the trunk of the car for the time being.”

“You really expecting spook trouble?” Janine asked worriedly.

“To be honest, I have no idea what to expect,” Egon replied. “But if something bad does happen, I’d feel better having one of these close at hand.” He gave the pack a reassuring pat.

“Well ...okay.” Janine clapped her hands together. “So, we’re all settled in, and your computer says it’s hunky-dory, so let’s go get something to eat, okay?” Janine took Egon’s arm and guided him toward the rental car. “And I do not want fast food, so let’s rule that one right out!”

Egon nodded and opened the driver’s side door for her, then hurried back into the room and retrieved the pack, which he placed in the trunk. “There’s that youth center and juice bar Zachary told us about,” he offered as he got in on the passenger’s side. “The food sounds adequate, and Billy might be there.”

“Adequate?” Janine shook her head. “Anything edible is ‘adequate’ to a teenager, Egon.” She considered the possibilities among the restaurants she’d spotted on their drive from the airport, but nothing satisfactory came to mind. “Oh, all right,” she sighed. “Let’s give it a try. I’ll settle for anything that doesn’t begin with a ‘Mc’.”

* * * * *

 

Zack should have been surprised to see Jason at his front door, but somehow he knew better. “What’s going on, Jase?”

Jason’s features were grim. “Let’s head over to the Juice Bar.”

“Jase, you know that’s not a good idea,” Zack warned. “ _They’ll_ be there. And Dr. Spengler suggested we lay low until he had a chance to check things out.”

“I know what he said.”  It was quite clear that Jason had other ideas and wasn’t open to new ones.

Zack sighed; better to go along and watch his friend’s back than to let him get clobbered alone. “Okay, man,” he shrugged. “Let me call Trini first. Might as well do this together . . .”

* * * * *

Janine drove; Egon was busy taking periodic readings with the PKE meter and jotting them down in a tiny notepad. Fortunately, the streets of Angel Grove had been laid out by a man of vision, not a sadist, so the address for the Angel Grove Juice Bar and Youth Center was easy to track down. Oddly enough, the traffic wasn’t bad for rush hour.

The center was noisy but not unbearably so; from the look of things, it was the place for teenagers to hang out. Fully half of the main room was set up as a gymnasium of sorts, complete with exercise machines, tumbling mats, balance beams, climbing ropes--just about everything one would need for a good workout.  Janine watched as one lithe gymnast executed a series of movements on the balance beam with deceptive ease; she finished with a perfect backflip and landed on the mat in textbook form.  She accepted a pink towel from one of her friends and wiped the sweat away, then turned to watch something going on nearby. Janine followed the girl’s gaze and had to admit it was something worth watching.

He was tall, muscular without being bulky, and had a set of buns that took Janine’s breath away. His long, black ponytail flew through the air as he performed a series of flying kicks, each punctuated with a loud combination cry and grunt. He seemed oblivious to the fact that everyone in the place had stopped what they were doing to watch him; he seemed oblivious, in fact, to everything but his workout. Janine sighed despite herself and decided that this was what they meant by ‘poetry in motion’.

“Janine,” Egon said quietly. She jumped, startled, and glanced guiltily over at him. He nodded toward the exercise area. “I’m picking up strong traces of residual morphing energy out there, in clusters.”

“The Rangers?” Janine asked softly. Egon nodded once. “Lay odds the martial arts guy is one of them,” she whispered.

“Quite likely,” Egon agreed. “In fact, I’d hypothesize that he’s Tommy.”

At that moment a large, round-faced fellow with an apron came over. He studied the strangers intently for a moment, his gaze lingering on the PKE meter for the longest time. Finally, he smiled hesitantly and said, “Can I help you with something?”

“Oh, yes, forgive me,” Janine said quickly. “We’re relatives of Billy--we happened to be in town and heard that he might be here. Have you seen him yet? My name’s Janine Melnitz, and this is Billy’s uncle, Egon.”

The man’s face filled with recognition. “Dr. Spengler? Of the Ghostbusters?  Sure, sure--Billy talks about you all the time.  How ya’ doin’? My name’s Ernie; I run this place.”  He shook their hands warmly and guided them over to the bar. A pretty Japanese girl was sitting there sipping at some fruity concoction, her eyes studying Egon and Janine with equal parts curiosity and caution.  “Billy hasn’t come in yet--Piniko here says that he had to finish some lab work at school.  Piniko Soga, this is Billy’s Uncle Egon and Aunt Janine.”

The girl smiled hesitantly and nodded. “I ...am pleased to meet you. Billy has spoken often of you.  But he hadn’t told me of your marriage.”

“We’re not married. Yet.” Janine smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Egon smiled thinly and nodded, quickly returning his attention to his meter. From the way he was fiddling with the settings, Janine figured he’d picked up another anomaly and wanted to get a better fix on it.  “So,” she continued brightly, “I take it you’re a friend of Billy’s?”

“Yes, I am,” she said, a shy blush drifting across her cheeks. “Billy has been tutoring me.”

“Piniko’s parents recently moved here from Japan,” Ernie explained. “She’s attending summer school, trying to get up to speed, and Billy has been tutoring her. He’s also been helping out with the science classes.” He gave Egon a funny look--the Ghostbuster was waving the meter around again and squinting at the readings--then shrugged to himself. This was obviously a man who was used to dealing with Spenglers in his place.

“I see,” Janine nodded, wondering if biology was once of the subjects they’d been studying. She was very pretty, and her rather plain-looking clothing couldn’t completely hide hints of impressive curves.  Then again, Billy was related to a Spengler....  “Are, um, any of Billy’s other friends here?” she asked Ernie. “I’ve heard so much about them through his letters ...Egon lets me read them; he’s very proud of Billy, you know.”

“Oh, yeah.” Ernie pointed toward the martial artist, who had stopped his routine long enough to accept the gymnast’s towel with a big smile. “Those two are Tommy and Kimberly. Aisha’s the girl in yellow close by. And over in the corner are Rocky and Adam on the weights.”  A nicely-proportioned Oriental boy was pumping iron, spotted by another handsome fellow in a red muscle shirt. Perfectly normal looking, every one of them, especially if you ignored the fact that their clothing choices paralleled the Power Ranger uniforms perfectly. _And no one’s noticed_ , Janine thought to herself in amazement. _Egon’s right--there has got to be a stupidity spell on this town._

Someone abruptly jostled Janine from behind; she whirled around angrily to find two young men leering obnoxiously at her. They were dressed primarily in grimy black clothing and faded T-shirts; one was huge, the other almost pathetically skinny.  “Hey,” she growled at them in her best ‘I’m a redhead from Brooklyn’ voice. “Watch the hands or lose ‘em.”

The skinny one emitted a horrible, warbling giggle that set Janine’s teeth on edge. The fat one snorted in derision and stuck his tongue out at her, then suddenly noticed Egon working with his meter.  “Hey, Skull,” Fatboy announced loudly. “We got a grownup geek here playing with his toys.”

Egon slowly looked up at the intruders, his gaze the picture of cold annoyance.  “Pardon me?” he said quietly.

“Maybe he’s related to Billy the Science Dweeb, huh, Bulk?” ‘Skull’ said with another high-pitched giggle.  From the corner of her eye Janine noticed Piniko’s body stiffen and assume an offensive crouch--even odder, her right hand drifted down to her thigh, as if reaching for something that couldn’t be seen.

Egon’s gaze dropped fifty degrees.  “As a matter of fact, I am. I’m Doctor Egon Spengler. Of the Ghostbusters. Perhaps you’ve heard of us?” Janine cringed as she recognized the tone of his voice. It was one she rarely heard, but when it emerged, it boded ill for the recipient.

Not that these two dummies caught on.  “Ghostbusters?” ‘Bulk’ howled.  His fingers danced in the air in front of Egon’s face. “Oooooohhh! Save me, Skull! The spookman’s gonna get me! I am sooooo scared!” Their laughter brayed all through the juice bar, catching the attention of the five teenagers who had been working out, oblivious to the exchange. Now they were grouped together, watching closely and whispering to one another.

Egon slowly stood up, raising himself to full height. He stared coldly at the two teens. “You ought to be. I’ve detected a class seven, free-roaming vapor in this room.”  He held up the PKE meter, which was beeping merrily to itself, legs fully extended. “Class sevens are very nasty things to deal with. I know from experience.”

Bulk’s cocky, defiant expression wavered just a fraction. “S-so what? How do I know you’re tellin’ the truth?”

Egon smiled thinly. “You don’t. But you see, one interesting thing we’ve discovered about class sevens is that they’re easily annoyed. Loud noises, especially. And they don’t like hostile emotions or actions, either.” He leaned closer to the now-trembling duo. “And you know what else?”

“Wh-what?” they asked in unison.

Egon’s smile grew.  “They attach themselves to the sources of those irritations ...and they wait until nightfall ...when the sources are at rest ...and then....”

“WHAT?” Bulk and Skull screamed.

Egon pulled away, the smile gone.  “Well ...let’s just say I hope you don’t find out the hard way. It isn’t pretty.”

Bulk and Skull took one look at Egon, took another at each other, and fled out the front door as fast as they could.  The rest of the juice bar applauded Egon for his performance, but the scientist was already returning his attention to his meter. Janine ordered two strawberry floats and leaned over to kiss her favorite scientist on the cheek. “You were wonderful, Egon,” she whispered. “I almost believed you.”

“I wasn’t completely lying,” he replied under his breath.  “I’m getting some strange readings ...and one of them was definitely reacting to those two’s presence in a very hostile manner.”

Janine looked over her shoulder at Piniko, who was sipping at her shake but stealing glances at Egon all the while.  “Aim your meter at her,” she whispered.

Egon looked up at her and blinked. “Why?”

“Just do it,” she hissed.  Egon nodded and pointed the meter at Piniko Soga.

Jason, Trini and Zack walked through the front door.

The quintet in the gym area turned around as one.

And Egon’s meter squealed pathetically and exploded.

Janine’s attention flip-flopped between Egon, who had dropped the smoking meter on the floor and was trying to put it out, and to the showdown going on nearby.  Tommy had taken three steps forward, but Kimberly had wrapped her arms around his. “Don’t,” she frantically pleaded with him. “Calm down, Tommy. It isn’t worth it. Don’t make a scene...please . . .”

But Tommy was focused on only one person in the room. He gently extricated himself from Kim and stepped forward. His fists were clenched in tight balls; his jaw was clenched in an angry grimace.

Jason walked right up to him. “Hello, Tommy. Long time.”

Anger flooded the handsome boy’s features. “You got a lot of nerve coming back here, man!” he growled at Jason. “Especially after the things you said to Kim! I don’t know what got into you, but if you don’t leave now, there’s going to be a showdown--once and for all!”

Confusion fell across Jason’s face. “What _I_ said? What about what _you_ guys said ...?”  He started to raise his hands in a pleading gesture, but Tommy suddenly reared back and lashed out with a classic roundhouse right that sent Jason spinning back and to the floor.  Trini and Zack hurried over to where their friend lay; Kimberly and Adam grabbed at Tommy and pulled him back before anything else could happen. 

“You stay away from us!” Tommy bellowed at the fallen Jason. “You stay away, especially from me and Kim! You hear me!” Jason slowly rose into a sitting position and absently wiped at the trail of blood coming from his mouth. He didn’t speak, didn’t move, simply continued to stare blankly at Tommy and the others as they headed for the back entrance.

Janine hurried over and took the young man’s face in her hands, studying the already-swelling bruise with the expertise that came from nursemaiding four men who ran around hurting themselves on a daily basis. “Jason?” she asked. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

He turned in the direction of her voice and focused on the two raised fingers on her hand. “Two, Ms. Melnitz,” he said in a shaky voice.

“I knew we should have stayed away, but he _insisted_ ,” Trini explained as she and Zack hoisted Jason to his feet. The woozy teen let his friends guide him to a corner table, where Ernie was waiting with a towel full of ice. After making sure the boy would be all right, Janine hurried back to Egon’s side. The scientist was gazing down at the remains of his beloved meter, consternation on his face.

“I hate when that happens,” he muttered, waving the few remaining wisps of smoke away.

“So what did happen?” she asked softly, glancing around for Piniko. The girl was nowhere to be found.

“I was getting multiple readings,” he explained, accepting a dustpan from Ernie and scooping up the pieces of his device with it. “I was attempting to recalibrate the meter to differentiate, but the moment I picked up a discrete reading from that young lady...” He abruptly looked around. “Where did she go?”

“I don’t know,” Janine replied. “So, what? Was the concentration of Rangers too much for the meter?”

“Rangers?” Egon blinked, confused. Then he shook his head. “You don’t understand, Janine. I’d already screened their energy patterns from the scan. It couldn’t have been them.”

“You mean...?” Janine gasped.

Egon nodded grimly.  “There was a third paranormal source in this room ...beyond the Power Rangers ...and beyond Piniko.”


	5. That Evening

Billy sighed and shifted his backpack four degrees to the right as he headed up the sidewalk toward the juice bar. He was still a bit despondent over his lab experiment’s latest results, which had been far less successful than he’d hoped. At least the fire had been quickly extinguished, as had Mr. Kaplan’s hairpiece, though the high school principal hadn’t looked very pleased with him, even after Billy had promised his family would make restitution.

Billy had just reached the front of the juice bar, remembering his Uncle Egon’s statement that things like this were bound to happen when a scientist explored the frontiers of the unknown, when Piniko Soga came running out of the building, looking quite pale and shaken. “Billy!” she cried out, tumbling into his arms with a sob. “It was terrible ...just terrible!”

“Piniko?” Using one arm to hold her closer, Billy reached around with the other into his pants pocket to retrieve a slightly wrinkled handkerchief. “What was terrible? What happened?”  He glanced down at his communicator, but it was silent; logic therefore indicated that the source of Piniko’s distress was more mundane in nature.

“Your friends...” she gasped, dabbing at her tears with the hankie. “Those three people who used to be friends of yours appeared out of nowhere ...there was an altercation ...and your Uncle Egon was in there, and his device exploded...”

“Uncle Egon?” That was a surprise, to be sure. Billy would have thought his uncle would have called ahead to let him know about the visit. Illogical ... He put the bit about the exploding device to one side--being a Spengler himself, this was nothing unusual, merely one of those things--and focused on the first part of her statement.  “Piniko, are you saying Jason, Trini and Zack were here?”

She nodded. “Tommy lost his temper and struck Jason ...then left with Kim and the others. It was very upsetting, Billy; I had to leave...” She buried her face in his shirt, trembling slightly. Billy smiled and held her close, enjoying the proximity of her body to his while trying to deduce the overall situation.

He hadn’t heard a thing about the peace conference in weeks. Trini’s nasty letter to him had been upsetting, but after talking to Tommy and Kimberly (who’d apparently gotten a similar missive from Jason), he’d more or less put it out of his mind. After all, between helping out at summer school and his Power Ranger duties, there was more than enough activity to fill his schedule.

Apparently they’d returned back from Europe. But if they were adamantly opposed to ever seeing their former friends again, why did they come to the juice bar? It was the most probable site for a confrontation. Given Tommy’s anger over the things Jason said about Kim, Billy could well understand his friend’s loss of control. Still ...the whole scenario was deeply disturbing.

“Billy?” Piniko was sniffing his shirt suspiciously. “Why do you smell like smoke?”

Before he could explain, he heard a familiar voice call his name. Billy looked up and smiled brightly at the sight of his favorite relative standing in the doorway of the Juice Bar. And the striking redheaded woman beside him must be Janine. He’d been looking forward to meeting her; she had to be quite a formidable lady to be able to win the heart of a Spengler. Keeping the now-calm Piniko around his arm--he was rather enjoying the sensation, to be honest--Billy walked up and greeted his uncle warmly.

Janine shook his hand. “You can guess who I am,” she laughed. “And before you say anything, it’s ‘Janine’. Not ‘Ms. Melnitz’.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you ...Janine,” Billy replied. “Ahhh ...have you met Piniko?” She glanced up shyly at Egon and Janine and smiled hesitantly.

“Yes,” Egon said in an odd voice. “We were introduced inside.”

“I must apologize,” she stammered. “I was most upset by the fight and the explosion.”

“It’s quite all right,” Egon assured her, still gazing intently at her. “I can quite understand how that could be unnerving.”

“Well,” Janine said briskly with a clap of her hands. “I’d say this calls for a special dinner somewhere! Billy, why don’t you call your parents and have them meet us at a restaurant--your choice. After all, it’s not every day you meet your soon-to-be Aunt Janine!”

“What?” Billy said happily. “Are you...?”

“Not yet,” Egon said hurriedly.

“But soon,” Janine added firmly.

“Oh,” Billy replied, clearly not understanding. “Well, at any rate, my parents aren’t in Angel Grove right now. They’re on an archaeological expedition in the Yucatan. They recently received a Banzai Fellowship grant, you know.”

“They did?” Egon said, surprised. He shot a glance at Janine, who shrugged. Odd that her cousin Little Red, who worked at the Institute, hadn’t told her. Red usually relayed that sort of news the minute she heard it.

“Ummm ...if it isn’t a problem, could Piniko come too?” Billy asked shyly. Piniko’s eyes widened in surprise ...or perhaps panic, and she quickly began to stammer an excuse on how she couldn’t possibly intrude on a family reunion, how Billy deserved a chance to talk to his uncle without having her along...

“We’d be happy to have her with us,” Janine declared in a voice that tolerated no further dissent. She led the way to the rented car, with Billy, Egon, and a very-reluctant Piniko in tow.  As they walked, Egon frowned and sniffed the air curiously. “Billy?”

“Experiment.”

“Ah.”

* * * * *

“Like, how could you _do_ such a stupid thing?” Kimberly angrily shouted at Tommy. “How could you? You, of all people!”

They were standing in the middle of the Power Rangers’ Command Center, oblivious to the presence of the other Rangers flanking them. Alpha-5, the citadel’s majordomo, tottered back and forth to this machine and that, obviously having decided that discretion and blind dedication to his duties were the better part of valor.

Tommy sighed in exasperation and held up his hands. “I don’t know, Kim. I just ...I just lost my temper. I know it was dumb, I just couldn’t help myself, you know?”

Kim wasn’t buying such a lame excuse. “Oh, right,” she said, waggling a finger in her boyfriend’s face. “You’re the one who teaches all those kids about how a true disciple of martial arts avoids violence whenever he can, how he always finds the way of peaceful confrontation, and the minute you lay eyes on Jason you deck him!” She folded her arms beneath her bosom and snorted. “Like, way to go, Tommy!”

“Kim...” Tommy followed her around like a lost puppy. “Can you blame me? After the things he said about us ...about _you_...”

“You nailed him with a pretty good shot,” Rocky offered; Aisha quickly shushed him.

Kimberly shook her head. “Look,” she said softly. “It hurt. I thought Jason was our friend, okay? And, like, maybe we were wrong. Maybe this whole thing where you replaced him as leader, and then his giving up the whole Ranger thing, maybe that really hurt him, too, y’know?” Finally she turned around, her eyes searching Tommy’s face. “But Tommy, we can’t let that get to us, okay? He’s got to go his way; we’ve got to go ours. We knew he’d come home someday and we’d have to deal with this. So why’d you have to go and make things worse?”

Tommy gently put his hands on her shoulders. “You’re right, Kim. I blew it big-time.” He sighed and looked at the other three Rangers, who were politely pretending to study the readings on the consoles nearest them. “Look, if it makes you feel better, maybe we ought to go over to his house tonight. I could apologize, and maybe then we could talk this thing out and get it settled.”

She smiled up at him. “I’d like that, Tommy. You two were partners, almost brothers. I hate to see things like this...”

Just then Zordon’s features shimmered through his interface screen. “RANGERS, YOU ARE TO BE COMMENDED ON YOUR DESIRE TO RESOLVE THE CONFLICT WITH YOUR FORMER FRIENDS,” his voice boomed. “BUT I MUST ADVISE AGAINST TAKING SUCH AN ACTION AT THIS TIME.”

“Huh?” Tommy said in surprise.

“ALPHA AND I HAVE BEEN MONITORING JASON, TRINI AND ZACK SINCE THEIR RETURN TO ANGEL GROVE. WE HAVE DETECTED AN ABNORMAL ENERGY READING EMANATING AROUND THEM.”

“Ay-yi-yi!” Alpha cried, obviously glad to be a part of the conversation once more.  “Look at the viewing globe, Rangers!”

An image of their old friends appeared on the screen. Around each of them was an angry red aura.

“What is it, Zordon?” Adam asked.

“ALPHA AND I BELIEVE THAT LORD ZEDD HAS INFUSED THEM WITH SOME OF HIS EVIL. THEY MAY NOW BE HIS MINIONS, FORCED TO OBEY HIS EVERY WHIM. IT MAY BE THEIR INTENT TO INSINUATE THEMSELVES BACK INTO YOUR CIRCLE, THE BETTER TO DESTROY YOU FROM WITHIN.”

“Like, major bummer,” Kim muttered, her eyes transfixed on the globe. She glanced over at Tommy. “Maybe this explains those letters, you think?”

“Maybe,” the White Ranger replied quietly. His eyes were locked upon Jason’s image in the globe.

“So what do we do?” Aisha asked.

“FOR THE MOMENT, NOTHING. ALPHA AND I WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THESE ENERGY READINGS AND DETERMINE THEIR WEAKNESSES.  WE CAN BRING THE FORMER RANGERS BACK HERE AND TREAT THEM WHEN A CURE HAS BEEN FOUND. BUT UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU INITIATE ANY PROLONGED CONTACT WITH THEM UNTIL WE KNOW WHAT ZEDD’S ULTIMATE PLAN IS. THERE IS NO WAY TO KNOW IF THIS ENERGY COULD INFECT YOU AS WELL.”

Tommy looked up at Zordon. “We gotta free them, Zordon. They’re our friends.”

“I KNOW, TOMMY, AND I SALUTE YOUR DEDICATION TO THEM. WE WILL DO ALL WE CAN TO SAVE THEM FROM ZEDD’S EVIL.”

“Okay.” The leader of the Power Rangers nodded, then returned his attention back to the others. “Let’s head on home. Stay in touch. If Zack, Trini or Jason tries to talk to you, be polite--don’t let them know we’re on to ‘em--but get out of there as fast as you can. Got it?”

“Hey,” Adam said suddenly. “What about Billy?”

“I’ll drop by his place and fill him in,” Rocky immediately volunteered.

“Sounds good,” Tommy said in approval. “That takes care of everything?” The Rangers nodded. “Okay, then. ‘Port us home, Alpha.”

“Ay-yi-yi--you’ve got it, Tommy!” The five teenagers vanished in a rainbow collage.

* * * * *

Dinner was an uncomfortable time.

After a brief discussion they’d chosen Wardell’s for dinner; Billy took advantage of his uncle’s VISA card and picked a porterhouse, as did Egon. Janine settled for sirloin tips, and Piniko opted for the salad bar, claiming a delicate stomach over the pleadings and protests from the two men. Billy and Egon chattered about everything under the sun, mixing family news with the latest scientific advances as they went. But try as Janine did, she could not get much out of the shy Japanese girl beyond general pleasantries. For the most part she kept her head down and picked at her meal.

One reason for her shyness might have had to do with Egon’s occasional glances her way. There was a silent determination in his eyes, as if to tell her _you’ve got a secret, I know you have a secret, and it’s not going to be a secret much longer._ Janine could have kicked him for his rudeness if not for the memory of how that meter had screeched and exploded at Ernie’s just a few hours earlier.

After Egon had paid for the meal (knowing the card’s balance, Janine had crossed her fingers and prayed fervently for acceptance), Billy asked to be let off at Piniko’s house. “Piniko’s having some difficulty in history,” he explained, “and I wanted to help tutor her over the rough spots.” Egon gave the girl another one of his stares before nodding and offering the usual goodnight benedictions. Janine smiled and waved goodbye to the young couple, thinking to herself what a sweet pair they made, how right they looked together ...and then the damned screaming meter went roaring through her thoughts again.

“Well?” she asked after the front door to Piniko’s house had closed. “Is it safe for him to be alone with her?”

“In what sense?” Janine snickered; it was rare that Egon let loose a joke, let alone a potentially off-color one. He smiled briefly and rolled the car out of the driveway. “In all seriousness, I believe he is safe for the moment. At any rate, I couldn’t very well express my concerns without tipping both Billy and her off.”

“Got news for you, Egon--you did a great job of tipping her off at the restaurant.”

“That was deliberate.” He pointed the car toward the hotel and turned the headlights on.  “I wanted her to know that if anything did happen to Billy, I’d be coming after her first.” He smiled in the darkness of the car. “As Peter would say, a little intimidation never hurt anyone.”

“Well, I sure hope that you’re right about her being a paranormal. Despite everything, I thought she was kinda sweet, and she was _definitely_ sweet on him.  And vice versa.” She sighed and leaned back in her seat. “So ...what now?”

“We’re going back to the hotel. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like for you to call Red and see if she can corroborate that grant information. I need to get in touch with Raymond and relay the scan results to him; he can also cross-reference the information we’ve acquired on Piniko through TobinNet tonight and see if we get a match. The more we know about her, the better I’ll feel.”

“Well, while you do that, I’m going to take a nice, long soak in the tub,” Janine declared.  She stared through the windows and shook her head. “You know something? It just hit me--in all the time we’ve been here, I’ve yet to see a single McDonalds!”

“How ever have they coped?” Egon replied absently, his mind divided between driving and analyzing the day’s data.

* * * * *

“You sure you’re okay?” Zack asked Jason for the eighth time. With Trini’s help, he’d managed to get their friend back home; she’d scouted the rear exit of the Juice Bar to make sure none of their old comrades were waiting for them, then returned to assist Zack. Jason’s mother had quickly whipped up an ice pack for the ugly swelling on her son’s face and demanded an explanation. Fortunately, Zack had come up with a plausible ‘got hit by a ball, never saw it coming’ excuse that she’d accepted for the time being.

“I’m cool, Zack,” Jason said wearily.  He pressed the ice pack against his cheek, wincing at the sting it brought.

“Well, it’s obvious that something’s not right,” Trini commented. She rocked from foot to foot, her arms wrapped tightly around her body.  “Tommy said something about letters you’d written to him and Kimberly--and they must have contained some really nasty stuff, for him to lose his temper like that.”

Jason smiled slightly and winced again. “Yeah ...I’m lucky he just smacked me with a fist. If he’d thought about using any of his kicks, I’d still be lying on Ernie’s floor.” He pulled the ice pack away from his face; Trini firmly guided it back. “Okay, okay. I get the message.”

“Maybe we’d better lay low for a while,” Zack said worriedly. “Stay away from the juice bar and all until Dr. Spengler’s had a chance to investigate.”

“Good idea,” Trini nodded. “Frankly, the entire town’s given me goose bumps since we got back.” She glanced at her watch. “Oops--I’m running late. Gotta go, guys.” She reached down and gave Jason’s arm a gentle squeeze. “You going to be okay?”

He nodded tiredly. “I’ll be fine. No sweat.”  Trini nodded one final time and hurried out the front door.

Zack turned to Jason and patted him on the shoulder. “I gotta go, too,” he said with an apologetic smile. “I was going to meet Angela at the movie house.”

“Oh yeah?” Jason said with an upraised eyebrow.

“Ohhhh yeah,” Zack grinned.  “Later, Jase.”  He flashed a ‘thumbs up’ sign and headed out the door as well. Jason watched him go, then returned his attention to the ice pack. With a pained grimace, he pressed it against his face again and tried to concentrate on the television.

* * * * *

Rocky snorted in disappointment as he stopped his evening jog directly in front of the Spengler residence.  The house was completely dark; not even the garage light was on, which confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Power Rangers’ resident scientist was not home.  Rocky absently wiped the sweat off his brow and stood there, hands on hips, trying to figure what to do next.

Of the three neo-Rangers, Rocky took his position most seriously. He was well aware that his predecessor had been the squad’s original leader, and even with Tommy in charge, he still sensed that the others sometimes expected him to lead the way. It was most keenly felt inside the Thundermegazord, when he sat in the center seat and coordinated the Zord’s attack.

Jason had left incredibly large boots to fill, and despite his best efforts Rocky still felt as though he was coming up short, not only in his teammates’ eyes but in his own as well. To compensate, he plunged into his studies and workouts, trying constantly to improve himself.  Trouble was, no matter how far he might have progressed, every time he looked, he saw Jason standing directly in front of him, a moving target that constantly mocked him.

And now the first Red Ranger was back home. When he’d seen Jason at the juice bar, Rocky had felt an icy fear spread across his stomach; what if Tommy decided that his old partner ought to resume the role?  Fortunately, things had not worked out that way, but even so, Rocky wasn’t sure he liked what had happened any better.  It didn’t seem right. Rangers shouldn’t fight among themselves, no matter what the justification.

Rocky loved being the Red Ranger. He never wanted to give it up. But if Tommy had asked him to surrender the morpher to Jason, he would have in a minute. Not without regrets, but in his view, a Ranger did what was asked of him, no matter what the personal consequence. It was part of the duty--no, the  _privilege_ \--of being a Power Ranger.

Rocky sighed and kicked at the sidewalk with the front of his sneaker. He could wait until Billy got home, or he could simply try to call and leave a message.  He really didn’t like that idea--it was kind of dangerous, leaving messages like, “Billy, Jason and the others are back, and Zordon thinks they’ve been possessed by Zedd, so try to stay away from them. Talk to you later.” But there was no telling when Billy might get home. What to do?

Rocky reached a decision. He’d been meaning to start extending his evening jog, and this would be a perfect excuse to do it.  He’d go a second lap and check on the house when he passed by again later.  Maybe Billy would be home by then.  Smiling with satisfaction, Rocky took a deep breath and took off down the sidewalk at a brisk pace.

* * * * *

“Now, you see, Bismarck’s philosophy was to play his enemies one against the other, orchestrating these alliances very carefully so that Germany always came out ahead.” Billy smiled at Piniko, who was sitting attentively beside him on the sofa. He was amazed at how she listened so intently to his every word; how her eyes sparkled as they watched his every gesture. Her body was leaning ever so slightly toward him, indicating (according to the teenage psychology books his parents had purchased a few months back) a positive interest. He smiled with equal parts shyness and nervousness, and glanced down at the page to see what the blazes Bismarck was up to.

Under normal circumstances, Billy would have been extremely uncomfortable in this situation. When a girl whose parents were away invited a boy to “study”, the general implication was that the only item on the agenda would be courtship rituals.  But Piniko had quelled his hesitation by insisting that she knew him to be a very honorable and trustworthy gentleman who would never think of taking advantage of such circumstances.

Billy wasn’t quite sure he was worthy of the praise; while part of him doggedly pursued the study material, the other couldn’t keep his eyes off her perfectly-chiseled features, her long black hair (which shone like silk), and those full, soft lips that he was dying to find out how full and soft they were. Fortunately, he had that traditional Spengler dedication to knowledge and single-minded determination to bulldog his way through any distraction, just like his Uncle Egon.

Who, he suddenly realized, had been rather pleasantly sidetracked by that rather striking redheaded woman...

“Billy?” Piniko said, suddenly jolting him from his reverie. Her eyes were filled with concern. “Are you all right?” she asked. “You seemed to drift off just now...”

He blushed and fumbled with the book, trying to figure out where he’d left off.  “Ahh ...I’m sorry, Piniko. I just started thinking about something ...where were we?”

She smiled brightly at him. “Perhaps we could use a break?” Before he could protest, she had stood up and was walking with incredible catlike grace to the kitchen; moments later, she returned with some soda and cookies.

Billy hadn’t realized how thirsty he was; he’d drained the glass without a second thought. She gently took the glass from him, letting her fingers brush against his an instant longer than needed, and filled it back up. “Here you are,” she said. Again, when he took the glass from her, her fingers caressed his a fraction longer than necessary.

“You know,” she continued as she tasted one of the sugar cookies, “I am very grateful that you tutor me, Billy. I ...enjoy being with you.” She blushed prettily and glanced shyly at him.

Billy suddenly felt very warm as his hormones began pumping pheromones into his bloodstream. “I like being with you, too, Piniko,” he said with a smile.

Her hand moved across the sofa, stopping only when it reached his. “I _really_ enjoy being with you, Billy.” He wanted to reply, but his mouth had gone desert-dry and his tongue had gotten tangled up with his vocal chords.  All he could do was smiling dumbly as she scooted over to his side of the sofa, lifted one soft hand against his cheek, and pressed her lips against his.

It was a long, slow, sweet kiss that echoed through his mind, body and soul. It was a kiss that stirred him somehow, bringing back new yet familiar sensations, memories that were shadows in the back of his mind. Billy let himself become lost in the pleasure of the kiss, responding with gentle firmness and savoring every part of it. Piniko sighed and tenderly caressed his cheek, letting her other hand leave his and wrap around his neck and shoulders; Billy let his arms circle her waist, pulling her closer...

And then Piniko slipped her tongue into his mouth.

Billy yelped and withdrew from her embrace, acutely aware of his body’s reaction to hers. “Umm, I think it’d be best if I went home,” he stammered, hurriedly shoving his books into his backpack and trying not to look at her. He was on his feet and heading for the front door before she could react.

“Billy!” she cried, her eyes wide and growing wet. “I ...I’m sorry! I thought ...I didn’t think...”

He took a deep breath and tried to reassert control over his body. Trouble was, part of him wanted to recreate the setting of the experiment, but change one of the variables ...such as slipping _his_ tongue into _her_ mouth and see what happened next. “Piniko...” he gulped. “I ...I like you a lot. More than I’ve ever liked any girl. But ...this is not ...it could lead to trouble. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Before she could protest, plead or do anything that might persuade him to stay (and at this moment, it wouldn’t have taken much), he flew through the front door and shut it behind him.

Piniko stood there beside the sofa, her hands clenched in tiny fists and her mouth still open but unable to say anything. Finally she folded her arms beneath her bosom and snorted in disgust. “Ohhhhhh.... _damn_!” she declared, stomping her foot and just barely missing the scorpion that had been crawling toward her.

 


	6. Chapter 6 - Mysteries but No Answers

One nice thing about the Angel Grove Holiday Inn, there was lots of hot water and plenty of room for a good soak, Janine decided as she stretched in the bathtub.  She picked up her latest romance novel and opened it to where the bookmark lay, hoping that Egon managed to get off the phone before midnight.  From the sound of things, though, she wasn’t making any bets on it.

“Yes, Ray ...that’s very interesting, and I agree that we should look into it, but ...Ray, if you really want to begin a preliminary investigation, that’s ...Ray, I need you to ...yes, aerial photographs might be a good start, along with infra-red shots at night, but ...Ray, I’m sending you ...no, I don’t think there’s a cover-up in the Manhattan police department...”

Janine smiled to herself. You could practically feel the frustration in Egon’s voice as he struggled to overcome his colleague’s enthusiasm over something new and weird to chase. _Any second now, Egon is going to have enough, and he’s going to..._

“Ray, is Peter there?”  Long pause. “Oh. Well, Dana does deserve a night on the town ...no, I don’t think they’ll notice any flying around ...how about Winston? Good. Can I speak to him? Yes, Ray, I’ll read your e-mail...” Janine giggled and nodded to herself as Egon’s voice dropped to more conversational levels. He spoke at length with Winston, then hung up the phone with an incredibly exasperated sigh; seconds later, he came into the bathroom and sat down atop the toilet seat, looking utterly exhausted.

“What’s got Ray going?” Janine asked sympathetically.

“Oh, something about gargoyles in Manhattan,” he said absently, rubbing his eyes with his hands. “Honestly, sometimes Raymond gets so worked up on these things, you couldn’t get through to him with a megaphone.”

Janine smiled and said nothing.

“At any rate,” Egon continued, “I did manage to speak to Winston, and he’s promised to make Ray settle down and research the information I sent him.”  He yawned and shook his head. “Did you talk to Red?”

“Yeah. She didn’t remember hearing anything, but she promised to ask Rawhide and get back to me.”

“Good.”  Egon stared at the opposite wall, seemingly oblivious to the fact that a beautiful woman was lying naked in the tub. “I wish I knew what was going on around here.”

“You’ll figure it out,” Janine assured him.

“I hope so. Frankly, I don’t have the slightest idea what to do next.”

She smiled invitingly.  “Wanna take a bath?”

* * * * *

Ray Stantz looked positively despondent as Winston turned off the phone and handed it back to him. “Gosh, I thought Egon would be excited,” he said dejectedly.

“Hey, don’t take it personally,” the black Ghostbuster smiled, patting his partner’s shoulder affectionately. “As soon as he finishes up this case, I’m sure he’ll look into these flying monsters first thing. You’ll see.”

“Flying monsters?” came a familiar voice from the stairwell; the Ghostbusters turned to find Peter Venkman and Dana Barrett coming into view. Peter was smartly decked out in a dark suit, while Dana’s long red dress was breathtaking. “Ray, is this anything like that little blue guy who lives inside your computer and beats you at all your games?”

“Well, he _does_!” Ray retorted hotly. “And it’s not just him, either! There’s this pretty green-skinned girl and their son, too!”

“That does it,” Peter said sadly, winking at Dana. “We’re going to have to suspend Raymond’s Saturday morning TV privileges.”

“So what are you guys doing here?” Winston asked, amused. “I thought this was dinner-and-tickets-to-’Forum’ night?”

“Dinner was wonderful,” Dana answered with a smile.

“I left the tickets on the fridge,” Peter concluded as he went to get them. “The mere thought of going out with this vision of angelic beauty makes me utterly irresponsible.”

“You’re always irresponsible,” Dana pointed out.

“I’m always thinking of you.”

“Flatterer.” Dana took his arm. “Keep it up.” They started down the stairs, then Peter paused and turned around. “Egon call?”

“Yeah,” Winston nodded. “Wants Ray to do some digging on some stuff he’s found.”

“After one day?” Peter whistled. “Man works fast. He going to need any help?”

“He didn’t think so.” Winston caught Dana’s discreet but impatient tug on Peter’s jacket and grinned. “Better get going if you’re going to make the opening curtain, Pete.”

“Yeah, guess so. See you guys later...maybe.” Winston and Ray heard Dana hiss “Peter!” as they hurried downstairs and chuckled softly. Then Ray reluctantly cleared the TobiNet gargoyle FAQ from his screen and set up a search on Japanese legends.

“I sure wish I knew what Egon was looking for,” he sighed.

“So does he,” Winston agreed.

* * * * *

Billy paused at his front door and turned around; he heard an odd wheezing and panting coming from down the street, and from all indications the source was approaching his house. Curious, he walked over to the front lawn and waited.

Within moments Rocky appeared; his red shirt was soaking wet, plastered to his body. His skin was blotched with angry red spots and coated in a fine sheen of sweat.  Mystified, Billy moved to the sidewalk and waited for his friend to meet him.

Rocky stopped directly in front of Billy. His eyes were glazed over and his chest was heaving. His hair, skin and shirt were drenched in sweat.

“Are you all right?” Billy asked.

Rocky opened his mouth to tell his fellow Ranger about Zordon’s warning, but at that moment his body decided that, having run fifteen laps without a break, throwing up was a far better course of action ...and immediately implemented the plan.

* * * * *

Trini sat hunched up on her bed, hugging her knees against her tightly and staring at the telephone sitting in front of her. She nibbled thoughtfully on her left thumbnail, wondering if she ought to do it, just pick the receiver up and dial the number and ask Kim what the devil was going on.  It sounded so easy, so very easy, and yet Trini hesitated.

It hadn’t helped that, despite her best efforts, she’d gained a pound today. She’d thought that coming back to Angel Grove and eating home-cooked meals on a regular schedule would have helped keep her weight down. Life at the peace conference had been so hectic, she’d fallen into the habit of grabbing meals on the run. And even when she had time for a meal, it was a choice between restaurant cuisine or room service. It was a miracle she’d escaped gaining as little as she had.

Then again, the bathroom scale wasn’t all that accurate. If she was going to be serious about keeping the weight off, she really ought to consider getting a top-grade scale. The one in the German hotel’s gym had been wonderful; Trini wondered if the one at Ernie’s was a similar model, and made a mental note to herself to check that out tomorrow. Then she remembered what had happened there that afternoon and made a face. Maybe Ernie’s wasn’t such a good idea, right now. Maybe she should just check the stores instead.

Trini sighed and buried her face in her arms. This was ridiculous. She’d originally thought that the best way to get things resolved was to confront the issue head-on. Jason’s encounter with Tommy at the juice bar had proven the futility of that idea. So perhaps a direct confrontation wasn’t quite the right course to take.

Her eyes fell on her bedside telephone.

How many hours had she spent on that phone, talking and giggling to Kimberly? Kim had been her best friend; there’d been no secrets between them. Kim wouldn’t lie to her. All she had to do was make the call, and the first step toward patching things up would be done, and they’d all be friends again.

Trini picked up the phone, listened to the dial tone for a moment, then punched in Kim’s phone number.

* * * * *

Kim and Tommy were sitting at opposite ends of the family room sofa, ostensibly watching TV. Every so often he would glance over at her, hoping to make eye contact and maybe find some way of easing her troubled mind. She was nibbling absently on her right thumbnail, eyes locked on the TV but her mind obviously a million miles away. It didn’t take a genius like Billy to figure out what she was thinking about.

He hadn’t meant to hit Jason, but seeing his former friend ...his former _partner_ , for crying out loud, how could he have written the things he did about Kim? Standing there after all that time, after those terrible letters, acting like nothing had happened between them...

Tommy could handle any criticism aimed at him. Leadership of the Rangers had not come as easily to him as it had to Jason, and Tommy could understand if his friend felt some resentment. But that letter he’d gotten a week or so after Jason had gone to Germany ...and the ones after it ...Tommy still had a hard time dealing with the hatred and bile that had leaped from the pages. It hadn’t sounded like Jason at all.  But for crying out loud, Zordon and Alpha had analyzed the letters--just in case this had been a trick of Zedd’s--and vouched for them. And then Kim had received the final letter from Jason, and come to Tommy in tears over its contents...

“You okay?” he asked softly.

She glanced over at him. “Yes ...no...I don’t know,” she said tiredly. “I wish we’d gone and talked to Jason, no matter what Zordon said, that’s all.” She shot a slightly peeved glare at her boyfriend. “And I wish you’d talked to him instead of decking him right off the bat.”

Tommy rolled his eyes in exasperation. “What do you want me to do?” he demanded. “Go up to him and apologize? Say to him, ‘Hey, Jase, it’s okay, no hard feelings about calling Kim those names, I understand’?”

Kim sighed and leaned her head back against the sofa, closing her eyes. “No,” she conceded slowly. “But, like, I just wish ...he was our friend, Tommy. He was like a brother to you. I just...” She stared up at the ceiling, gathering her thoughts.  “ ...I just wish we could all be friends again...”

The phone rang.  Kim got up to answer it. “Hello?”  Her face abruptly paled. “Uh ...hi, Trini,” she stammered, staring wildly at Tommy as if to say _what do I do?_ “Uh, no ...like, I was just watching TV with Tommy, that’s all...”

Tommy rose to his feet, mouthing the word _Zordon._ Kim made a face, then nodded. “You want to talk? Uhh, look, Trini, I’m really busy right now. I’ve got a big gymnastics meet coming up and ...yeah, we were friends, I mean, we  are friends ...no, I’m not angry about anything, I just ...well, after the letters we got from you guys...”

Kim’s eyes suddenly widened. “What _we_ said? Like, Trini, get real! I wrote you maybe one letter, and the nastiest thing in it was telling you how we found out that Bulk doesn’t wear underwear ...and like, if I told you what Jason said to Tommy and me, then like maybe you’d understand why Jason got what was coming to him today!” She glanced over at Tommy, who was making frantic cutting motions at his throat. “Look, Trini, I just don’t think this is a good time to talk, okay? Let’s ...wait and see. I gotta go. Bye.” She hung the phone up with a despondent sigh and glanced over at her boyfriend.

“Like, I feel like such a scumbucket,” she muttered.

He took Kim into his arms and hugged her tightly. “I know. I feel bad, too. But we gotta do what Zordon said and wait for our chance to free them from Zedd’s spell. It’s rough, but it’s going to work out in the end.”

“I know,” she whispered, snuggling into his embrace. “But I just ...I thought Jason was our _friend_.”

“So did I, Kim. So did I.”

* * * * *

Trini stared at the receiver for a moment or two, then slowly replaced it on the cradle and put the phone back on her desk. Only then did she allow herself to begin crying.

* * * * *

It should have been the ideal situation. A good romantic comedy was on the screen, the theater attendance was low, and a very beautiful young woman was snuggled up against him, sneaking bites of popcorn from the tub on his lap. Unfortunately, Zack had one small detail keeping the evening from being perfect.

“They’re still there,” Angela whispered. She had glanced over his shoulder on the pretext of doing some important neck nibbling. Adam and Aisha were sitting directly behind them four rows back, staring intently at the happy couple. She’d checked during a few genuinely funny scenes, and they hadn’t so much as cracked a smile.

“And?”

“They’re still staring at us.” She looked up at him, her expression equal parts curiosity and amusement. “Mind telling me why we’re so interesting?”

Zack chuckled. “Maybe your parents hired them.”

Angela made a face. “Ugh.” She smiled naughtily and reached up to pull his face to hers. “Kiss me, you fool.”

“You sure?” Zack said, surprised.

“If they’re going to spend all this time and money to watch us,” she said as her lips moved toward his, “then we might as well make it worth their while...” His lips moved softly, slowly against his, warm and hypnotic.

Zack couldn’t fault her logic one bit. And if even he could have, he wouldn’t have.

* * * * *

“You’re sure that’s what Zordon said?” Billy questioned Rocky, who was sitting on the front steps, groaning softly and wrapping his arms around his chest.

“Yeah,” Rocky replied, adding a nod for emphasis. “I mean, on the surface it sounds crazy, but you gotta trust Zordon and Alpha ...I mean, why would they lie? And it’d be a great way for Zedd to try and get back at us ...using ex-Rangers as his pawns.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Hey, I’m really sorry about ...y’know.”

“It’s okay,” Billy assured him.  “I was able to hose it all down into the sewer.”

“Well, I figured I could either wait here, which would look a bit odd, or I could call, but it’s hard to talk about this stuff on the phone, where anyone could be listening, so I figured I’d keep running and check back.” He glanced over at Billy. “Studying with Piniko again?”

To Rocky’s surprise, Billy blushed and for a moment seemed utterly flustered. “Uhhhh ...yes, I was,” he finally nodded.

“She’s really nice,” Rocky commented. “I think she likes you, man.”

Billy nodded quickly.

“You really ought to take her on a date or something,” Rocky continued, rather enjoying himself; Billy was normally the most unflappable person he knew. To catch him off guard and keep him that way was a treat. “You never know what it might lead to, huh?”

Billy paled. “I ...suppose you’re right.” He quickly rose to his feet. “Well, Rocky, I’ve got some work to do in my lab, and I’m sure you want to be getting home now. Good night.” He was through the front door and gone before Rocky could reply in kind.  The Ranger smiled to himself, shook his head and headed for home at an easy walking pace, chuckling quietly.

“She must have tried to kiss him or something.”

* * * * *

Piniko Soga tossed and turned in her bed, frustration and fury keeping her from falling asleep. She cursed herself in fluent Japanese for giving in too soon, for letting her desires overcome her careful planning. She’d come so close, and now, thanks to her foolishness, she further away than ever from claiming her beloved again.

And what made it even more frustrating was that, for a moment there, he’d responded. She knew it for a fact, she’d felt him _remember_ for just an instant, maybe two, and for that precious time he’d been hers again. And then, just as quickly, the wall had reasserted itself, and he was simply Billy Spengler once more. And she was left with the tantalizing memory ...and her pain.

_Why didn’t he_ **remember?**

It had never been so difficult, the previous times. Always they’d found each other, no matter how rough the circumstances, and always she’d managed to make him _remember_. And then they would share the remainder of that lifetime together, until he would leave her once again, until the next time...

So close, and yet so far...

Despite her better judgment, she’d let her mother persuade her into joining this silly game she’d been playing, agreeing to become the warrior villain. Think of the challenge, Mother had argued. Think of the thrill of besting him in battle, then claiming her victory in the sweetest possible fashion. Of course, Mother had been occupied with her new Green Ranger at the time, and she herself had been so eager to reunite with her beloved, so maybe neither of them had been thinking too clearly ...Piniko snorted and rolled over on her side, punching her pillow to fluff it up. She should never have agreed to it. All it had succeeded in doing was to alienate her from him, to make things twice as difficult.

And then Zedd had shown up and tossed Mother back into her prison. And she’d been forced to go into hiding, to assume the role of a mousy little Japanese girl who was oh-so-sweet and oh-so-shy. And hell of hells, he seemed to be drawn to her instantly, as though her beloved preferred her that way. _Oooh_ , she thought to herself, _when I finally make him remember, I’ll give him a reminder of how good it can be. I’ll show him how a true warrior loves her chosen..._

She realized that the current train of thought was only frustrating her more, and quickly banished further reflection. Or at least she tried to. Her body had other ideas.

* * * * *

Jason lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling. His cheek wasn’t hurting quite so badly, thanks to the ice and the ibuprofen his mother had given him. That pretty much left his pride and his heart as the only things aching.

 _Why?_ He yelled silently into the night. _How did things fall apart like this? What went wrong? Why can’t I talk to him? Why can’t I say the things that need to be said? Why does he hate me so much? What did I do?_

 _Oh, there’s one thing that might make him hate you_ , some darker part of himself said with a chuckle. _And you know very well what that thing is._

_No. Not that. He couldn’t possibly know about that. No way._

_Way_ , the voice mocked in a tone eerily similar to Kim’s. _He knows your little secret, how you feel ...and he hates you for it._ _And Kim would certainly never understand. If she knew, she’d probably laugh._

“Shut up,” he whispered, rolling over in bed and closing his eyes tightly. “Go away.”

 _I will. For now. But sooner or later, it’s all going to come out, and they’re both going to hate you ...almost as much as you hate yourself_...

 

 


	7. Interlude One

_Rita Repulsa dreamed._

_While her body lay trapped in its tiny prison, her mind drifted lazily through the infinite expanse of her memories to another name, another place, some ten thousand or so years back._

_Bandora was young, possessed of terrible power and beauty, a woman to be respected and feared. When Bandora walked through town, the populace deferred to her reverentially--partly because of her mother and the considerable power she wielded, but also because they knew what she was and what she could do._

_Men stole glances at her and sighed, entranced by her awesome beauty. Women regarded her with wistful envy that they were not so bountifully blessed as she.  Only the children showed no fear of Bandora; they danced around her and begged her to play with them. They adored her. And Bandora would smile, laughing as she allowed them to guide her away from her duties for a time. She played their games, taught them songs and lessons, and wished that she too could have a child. But her mother had warned her that such a thing would weaken her, would diminish her magical abilities with every birth. A virgin witch had no equal, she reminded her daughter constantly. To surrender that gift, to share life and love, was to surrender power. Never forget that, Bandora, she said. Never forget._

_And Bandora did not forget, not even when she met the handsome warrior known as the Green Ranger. She did not forget when she began to steal away at night to be with him. She did not forget when they consummated their love in a lush garden beneath the full moon. She did not forget; she simply chose to ignore._

_Her mother immediately knew what had happened. And when she sensed the new life within her daughter, her rage was a terrible thing to behold. She summoned the storms, brought forth the nightmares, and spewed every iota of her fury and wrath upon the Green Ranger. She watched, not without admiration, as he fought bravely, like a true warrior, even though he knew that he could not possibly triumph. There was even a tiny piece of pity in her heart when he finally fell._

_Bandora screamed and ran to her beloved’s side. She pulled the battered green helmet off and tenderly cradled his head in her lap as her tears cascaded down his bruised and bloody face. There were no words between them as he reached down to his waist and with his dying breath gave her the only token he had left ...the symbol of his power and his oath._

_And then the Green Ranger died._

_Bandora clenched the coin so tightly in her hand it seemed to sear her skin. She screamed in defiance and anger at her mother, who watched her daughter’s pain impassively. Bandora cursed her over and over, renouncing her family heritage once and for all. From now on, she would walk alone, an outcast by her own choice. And as her first act of independence, she gathered her power together and began to cast a spell. A spell of resurrection._

_Do not do this, my daughter, her mother warned. Such spells require far more power than you possess._

_Bandora ignored her; power crackled around her as she wove the spell._

_Think of the child within you, her mother pleaded. You endanger her existence._

_Bandora did not listen. She ignored the pain welling up inside her; it was nothing compared to the pain in her soul._

_Think of karma, my love, her mother screamed. You disrupt the balance of things!_

_Bandora screamed as the spell was cast..._


	8. It's Morphin Time!

Morning came with its usual warm and sunny demeanor; Egon and Janine had breakfast at a small cafe called McCarthy’s, where the food was tasty and the coffee cups were never empty for long. Afterward they returned to the hotel room and checked the laptop, which Egon had programmed to retrieve their e-mail from TobiNet.  Sure enough, Ray had sent a lengthy dissertation on the ‘gargoyles in New York’ topic he’d raved about the night before. Fortunately, it appeared that Winston had managed to calm him down, because there were other notes concerning the PKE readings Egon had sent.

Egon scrolled through the first letter, Janine reading over his shoulder. “So, whattaya think?” she asked. “Is it possible that these things are flying around the city?”

“It’s possible,” Egon conceded, though his mind was more on the assignment at hand. “About a year ago, Ray and I were asked to evaluate an old book of spells that had been purchased by a billionaire. In the back of the book was a long, rambling treatise on a ‘clan’ of gargoyles that had been cursed by the writer. The book was pretty hot when we scanned it on the meter, and we recommended that it be given to us for safekeeping. The owner declined.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that,” Janine nodded. “David Xanatos, wasn’t it? The guy who bought that castle and plopped it on top of his skyscraper?”

“Hmmm-mmm.” Egon was clearly bored by the current topic. “I kept expecting to read about people killed by falling debris. I can’t believe anyone would be insane enough to reconstruct an old, decaying structure so far off the ground. At any rate, it’s possible that Xanatos somehow called forth these creatures. If I remember correctly, the spell that supposedly kept those creatures in check would work until the castle rose about the clouds, or something like that.” He looked up and shrugged. “Perhaps that’s why he put the castle up there.”

“Just to see if the book was right?” Janine whistled. “Pretty expensive way to prove a legend.”

“I’ve noticed that money has a proportional relationship with eccentricity,” Egon replied.

“Well, try not to discourage Ray too much. You know how he gets,” Janine recommended. “So ...what about the other stuff?”

Egon studied the other letters and sighed. “Nothing conclusive ...but based on my suspicion of Piniko, Ray’s been digging up research notes on female Oriental legends. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of them.”  He pointed first to the list that had come up on the screen. “And that’s assuming she’s connected to what’s going on here.”

“What about the other frequency?” Janine asked.

“Nothing.” Egon shook his head. “Believe me, we don’t even want to try and narrow that one down at this point. That list would be even longer.” He leaned back and let Janine rub his shoulders and neck. “In addition, Winston’s concerned about the containment unit’s PKE levels. They’re running extremely close to critical capacity.”

“Oboy.” Janine pressed her thumbs into a particularly resistant muscle. “So what are you going to do?”

“I haven’t the faintest idea. Fortunately, business has been slowing down of late, so that could buy us some time to develop a solution.” He closed the e-mail window and sighed. “That feels wonderful, you know.”

“I suspected. You’re practically purring. What now?”

“Why don’t you drive over to the library and go through the local newspaper for the last two years? Find out as much as you can about these ‘Power Rangers’? Dates of appearance, monsters fought, locations--look for trends. I’m going to check Ray’s notes and see I can find anything there.”

“Sounds good. How about I come back around one for lunch? We could have a picnic in the park or something.”

Egon nodded. “That would be excellent. I’m sure by then I’ll want to get out of here for awhile.”  Janine kissed him goodbye and headed out the door; he had just connected to the Internet when the phone rang.

“Egon? It’s Red.” The Banzai Institute’s feisty nurse sounded surprisingly chipper for nine in the morning, then Egon remembered to add three hours. “Hey, I asked Rawhide about those Institute grants you’d heard about.”

“What did he say?”

“Well, that’s the interesting thing. They’re apparently legitimate.”

“Apparently?” Egon echoed.

“Well, in that everything looks correct on the computer. The problem is, Mrs. Johnson hasn’t been able to find any grant applications from Angel Grove in her files. And you know how thorough she is.” Red sighed. “Frankly, Egon, Rawhide and Tommy suspect a hacker. You can imagine how that’s gone over with Billy and P.C.” The Ghostbuster nodded to himself; the Institute’s resident computer wizards took such intrusions personally. “We’re still looking into it. The really odd thing, though, is that your relatives have done everything by the book--status reports, research findings, the whole deal. It’s like they really believe they were given the grants.”

“Hmmm.”

“Well, I’ve got to get to work. Give us a call if you need anything, and we’ll let you know what we find.” Egon gave the requisite farewells and hung up the phone. He sat still for a long time, puzzling over the various pieces of the mystery in his mind and trying to put them together...but there were far too many questions going unanswered. More research was required.

He took a sip from his cup of coffee and called up the first web site Ray had provided.

* * * * *

Before she’d gone to the library, Janine had visited the Angel Grove National Bank and obtained two rolls of dimes. From past experience, she knew she’d go through at least one of them and probably both. The teller had smiled brightly at her and wished her a nice day as she left. “Toto, we aren’t in the Big Apple any more,” she said to herself as she headed back to the car.

Janine was impressed by the size and stateliness of the town library. It looked like one of the old Carnegie projects from the turn of the century--two wings, three floors, solid brick construction. As she walked in, she sniffed the air and pleased to detect that certain scent that one found only where lots of older books sat over time.  Janine paused long enough to notice a picture of the Power Rangers standing around a young boy and girl; apparently they’d won some sort of reading contest and gotten to meet their heroes. Cute.

The librarian was a pretty redhead whose four-year-old daughter was flipping through Mercer Mayer books with disturbing speed.  She called the child over and guided Janine to a back room that contained a microfilm reader, a copier, and piles and piles of newspapers. “The copier’s ten cents a page,” she explained. “I’m sorry that you’re going to have to wade through all this, but we haven’t been able to get these on film yet.”

“No problem,” Janine assured her. “Compared to New York’s libraries, this is a breeze.”  She gave the woman’s daughter a peppermint and a smile, then set her purse down, pulled out a notebook, and set to work.

Using Jason’s tale as a reference point, she quickly found the first mention of the Power Rangers. And as she worked, Janine could not help but be incredulous. No one ...no one ...ever protested the property damage these attacks and battles caused. Nothing vital, such as hospitals or fire departments, was ever destroyed. No one ever got seriously hurt or killed. It was as if the battles had been carefully choreographed ahead of time to minimize the dangerous consequences. “Weird,” she muttered under her breath and kept reading, writing, and copying.

The monsters were something else, too. Janine shook her head and wondered what kind of sick mind could even conceive of these things--giant crabs, armadillos, monkey men with wings, and some things that she couldn’t make heads or tails out of.  Most of the photos were taken by zoom lens, with good reason--who wanted to get tangled up in those battles?  Well, at least most times the monster blew up shortly after being defeated--saved on the clean up, no doubt.

But here was one where someone just happened to have a camera on the scene--the Rangers were battling a strikingly beautiful young Oriental woman in yellow armor. Mean-looking sword she had, too...

_Wait a minute.... that face..._

_Oy vey!_

Janine quickly made copies of the photo, piled everything in her purse, cleaned up the room as best she could and hurried back to the car.

* * * * *

“EGON!” she cried as she stormed into the hotel room. He was sitting back in his chair, sipping at a cup of coffee and obviously taking a break from his researches.  “Egon,” she panted, rummaging through her purse, “you aren’t going to believe what I found! I know who Piniko is...” She thrust the grainy photocopy of the warrior at him.

He studied it for a moment, then leaned forward and set to work on his laptop. Ten minutes later, his features wore a grim smile. “Here we are.”

He turned the laptop around to show her the screen. On it was a color sketch of the golden-armored warrior, and even when artistic license was discounted the resemblance to the photo ...and Piniko ...was unmistakable. “That’s her!” Janine gasped. She grabbed her notebook and flipped through it.  “They called her Scorpina in the papers...”

“She’s also known as Lamia,” Egon supplied as he read from the screen. “Some of the older Japanese texts call her ‘The Lady of the Scorpions’.” He punched some keys and watched the text scroll down the screen. “Japanese demigoddess, origins unknown. Extremely fierce warrior in her day, also a very profligate mother--about seven or eight children for every lifetime she’s reported to have had.”

“Hope she had an understanding husband,” Janine whistled. “To say nothing of stamina.”

“There’s supposedly a temple in the western mountains of Honshu dedicated to her,” Egon continued. “No one’s quite sure, though.”

“So what’s she doing in Angel Grove?” Janine demanded.

“I’d rather know what she wants my nephew for,” Egon retorted. “And why she’s suddenly joined the side of the bad guys, too.”  He stood up and stretched his arms. “I think it’s time we had a private little talk with Piniko, don’t you?”

“Fine by me,” Janine nodded. “So long as we have some lunch first.”

He blinked at her, confused. “I think this is a bit more important, don’t you?”

“If you think I’m going to confront a Japanese warrior demigoddess on an empty stomach, you’ve got another think coming,” she declared, taking his arm and pulling him out the door.  “Let’s find a Kentucky Fried Chicken and eat, already!”

* * * * *

Far away, Lord Zedd rose from his throne and raised his staff high. “Enough of waiting for Zordon’s gambit to begin!” he roared. “Goldar!”

The monkey warrior hurried forward. “Yes, my evil lord and master?”

Zedd whirled around to face his minion. “Gather a battalion of putties and attack those meddlesome brats! Draw them out into the open. Then we shall see what Zordon has planned!”

“Yes, my lord!”

* * * * *

“I refuse to believe they don’t have a KFC here, either,” Janine declared forty-five minutes later.

“It does seem rather odd,” Egon agreed. “Fortunately, there was a delicatessen not far from here.” After a great deal of searching (and under-the-breath cursing from a starving Janine), they’d settled for a small shop called “Bulkie’s” and bought a pair of hero sandwiches. Janine noticed that the owner bore a striking resemblance to the obnoxious teenager who’d tried to give Egon trouble yesterday.

They were now sitting at a picnic table at Angel Grove Park, enjoying the warm summer afternoon. She bit into her sandwich--which was delicious--and looked out across the park. People were sunning themselves, playing Frisbee and volleyball, rollerblading, jogging ...it just seemed so normal, almost too normal, to her. There was just something so clean and wholesome about the entire town that she felt dirty in comparison.

“Over there,” Egon said quietly. Janine followed his gaze to where six teenagers were engaged in a game of “Frisbee keep-away”.  She quickly checked out the shirt colors--black, blue, red, pink, yellow and white--and nodded. The faces matched those she’d seen at the juice bar.

“I don’t see Piniko,” she commented.

“Hmmm.”

Suddenly an explosion of light blinded them. When their vision cleared, Egon and Janine could see a huge winged monkey in gold armor standing in front of the kids, slashing at the air with a huge, gleaming sword. Around him crouched an army of gibbering gray creatures that twitched and swayed threateningly. Most of the park population retreated; the six teenagers held their ground.

“Oh my God, Egon! Those have to be those putty things! What’s happening?” Janine turned, but the Ghostbuster was no longer sitting at the table. She whirled around and saw that the trunk of the car was open, and seconds later Egon reappeared. The proton pack was strapped to his back, and his gaze was fixed squarely on the just-started battle between the gray army and the teenagers.  “Egon, no!” Janine cried. “You don’t know what you’re getting into!”

“That’s my nephew being threatened,” he replied grimly.

“Great. Hero time.” Janine rolled her eyes, put down her sandwich, and hurried over to join him.

With firm, resolute strides he closed to within sixty yards of the fracas. The kids were doing a pretty good job against the putties; Janine did a quick head count and figured that about three had gone to that big Play-Doh container in the sky. The monkey seemed content to hang back and observe for the moment, and the putties were keeping the kids so busy none of them could get a chance to attack him.

Janine heard a familiar noise and realized Egon had just fired up the pack. He took careful aim at the closest putty and fired.  Energy crackled from the thrower and flew across the field, striking the creature square in the back. It cried out briefly, then exploded; the blast made putties, monkey and teenagers pause and turn around to see what had happened.

An acrid odor of burned tires drifted across the air.  Egon stood there, thrower in hand, smiling grimly. “Make my day,” he growled, then opened fire again.  In seconds the battleground smelled like a tire factory, and the monkey was standing by himself, looking around helplessly. The teenagers he’d been attacking appeared every bit as confused as their foe.

Egon carefully aimed his thrower at the winged monkey. “Next.”

The monkey abruptly vanished. The remains of his putty army followed an instant later.

The six teenagers glanced at one another for a minute or two, looking almost disappointed that their battle had been so rudely interrupted and abruptly concluded. Then Billy came running over, followed by the others at a slightly more reluctant pace.

“Uncle Egon!” he declared proudly. “That was an excellent display of precision firing! You accelerated the friction coefficient of the internal putty metabolism and caused a spontaneous release of heat energy!”

“Huh?” said Rocky, scratching his head.

“He toasted the putties,” Adam translated helpfully.

“Oh. Okay.”

“Uncle Egon,” Billy continued, turning to his friends. “This is Rocky, Adam, Aisha, Kimberly, and Tommy.” Egon shook each of their hands in turn.  “This is my Uncle Egon and his...”

“ ...Faithful companion...” Janine supplied.

“Uhh, yeah ...Janine Melnitz.”  She nodded to the kids politely, not missing the consternation on their faces, especially the displeasure on Tommy’s face. _If they knew that Egon had the thrower on its lowest setting, they’d be even more upset_ , she thought to herself.

Tommy was making an effort to be polite. “Uhhh, thanks for taking care of those things, Dr. Spengler,” he said tightly. “We, uhh, don’t know what we would have done without your help.”

“You appeared to be holding your own quite well,” Egon replied. “I was worried about Billy, though, and since I had the pack handy...” He switched it off and holstered the thrower.

Tommy was glancing nervously at the others, especially Kimberly. _Yeah,_ Janine thought, _how do you get out of this one without any troublesome questions, such as why was Monkey Boy picking on you?_ Fortunately, he was saved from talking further as six wrist beepers went off simultaneously. “Ohh, geez, there’s a ...a...” he began.

“That, like, umm...” Kim snapped her fingers. “That youth program we volunteered for at Ernie’s!” she cried triumphantly.

“Oh, yeah,” Tommy nodded. “We gotta get going, Dr. Spengler. Nice meeting you two.”

“I’m sure,” Janine replied, trying to hide her grin.

“Actually,” Egon interrupted, “I was hoping to talk to you, Billy. Do you think you could spare a little time? It’s important.”  His nephew glanced at Tommy and the others; they looked distinctly unhappy that he was even considering the request.

Finally he said, “Sure, Uncle Egon.” He turned to the others. “I’ll be there in a bit.”

“Don’t be too long,” Tommy ordered, then nodded to the others. They hurried off toward the nearest building, which was odd, because Ernie’s was in the opposite direction. Janine turned away so that Billy couldn’t see her giggling.

“What’s wrong?” Billy asked his uncle.

“William,” Egon said sternly. “I cannot believe you would have willingly exposed yourself to an unknown energy source without any prior research to determine the effects it might have on your body. I’m very disappointed in you.”

The young man blanched at the stinging rebuke ...and at the meaning behind it.  “What ...what do you mean?”

“Morphing energy,” Egon replied. “You and your friends are the Power Rangers ...aren’t you?”

Billy’s face went chalk white.

* * * * *

“FOOL!” Zedd’s staff smashed into Goldar’s helmet; the warrior staggered back and continued to cower and plead for mercy from his dread lord. “THRICE-CURSED IDIOT! I order you to engage the Rangers, keep them busy long enough to discover Zordon’s ultimate plan, and you RETURN AFTER FIVE MINUTES?????”

“Please, my Lord Zedd!” Goldar begged. “It wasn’t my fault! The Rangers had help from a stranger! He had some sort of weapon that vaporized the putties! I had to return to warn you!”

“And save your own skin, no doubt,” Zedd retorted angrily, but this news intrigued him. He sat back down upon his throne and activated his viewing globe, watching the replay of the battle with interest. “Interesting. Perhaps this is the new factor Zordon wishes to introduce. Perhaps the return of the original Rangers was merely a ruse...”

“Or perhaps the second phase of his plan?” Goldar foolishly offered.

“SILENCE!” Zedd leaned back in his throne and pondered the possibilities. “You left too soon, Goldar,” he finally declared. “We are still unsure of our enemy’s true motives. Since you have failed me, I will give the Rangers something more difficult to face...”

* * * * *

“What’s up, Zordon?” Tommy asked upon materializing in the Command Center. Alpha was busy fiddling with the controls to the display console; the face of the Rangers’ mentor flickered once or twice, then settled into its usual blurred appearance. “We ran into Goldar and some putties,” Tommy added.

“Yeah, and Billy’s uncle turned them into putty pies,” Adam said with a grin. “Man, that was something!”

“Hey, he could have fried us by accident,” Tommy retorted, giving his teammate a glare for emphasis; Adam shut up and stopped smiling. “Zordon, Billy’s talking to his uncle. He should be here in a minute.”

“I’M AFRAID THAT BILLY HAS BEEN DECEIVED,” Zordon said sadly. “BEHOLD THE VIEWING GLOBE.” The Rangers circled the sphere, which showed their friend talking to Egon and Janine. Abruptly the picture flickered angrily, and the teenagers gasped as they saw two putties standing there instead. “THIS IS ANOTHER PIECE OF ZEDD’S INSIDIOUS PLOT TO DEFEAT YOU FROM WITHIN,” their mentor informed them. “NOT CONTENT TO ENSLAVE THE FORMER RANGERS AGAINST YOU, HE HAS NOW TRICKED BILLY BY SENDING HIS MINIONS IN FORMS THAT THE BLUE RANGER WOULD TRUST.”

“Oh man,” Adam sighed, shaking his head in disbelief.

“You mean that whole battle was just a set-up to trick us?” Aisha turned to look up at Zordon, steel determination shining in her eyes. “What do we do? Take the putty imposters down?”

Suddenly the alarms began wailing throughout the dark chamber; Alpha cut loose with an “Ay-yi-yi” and hurried over to another console. The viewing globe faded for a moment, then refocused on a monster running wild in the Angel Grove warehouse district. It looked something akin to Godzilla running rampant through a fabric store. “ZEDD’S NEWEST MONSTER IS ATTACKING. YOU MUST GO TO BATTLE, RANGERS.”

“But like, what about Billy?” Kim said uncertainly.

“WE WILL SUMMON BILLY AND SEND HIM TO YOU. YOU MUST GO NOW AND HOLD THE KIMONO DRAGON UNTIL HE CAN JOIN YOU.”

“Right!” cried Tommy. “It’s Morphin’ Time!”

* * * * *

“No,” Billy said, shaking his head furiously. “It’s not possible. It can’t be...” He looked up at Egon. “How did you find out about ...you know?”

“Your friends told us,” he replied.

“Tommy and the others ...we were all sworn to secrecy,” he protested weakly.

“Not them,” Janine said gently.  “Jason? Trini? Zack?”

“Oh.” Billy sat down at a nearby bench and cradled his head in his hands. “They aren’t really what you could call friends anymore,” he explained. “We had a sort of falling out with them. About two months after they’d gone to the Peace Conference, we received a number of letters that were extremely vehement in nature. Tommy and Kimberly were most upset from the missives they got from Jason.”

“Jason claims he got nasty notes from them,” Janine told him. She fished around in her purse and retrieved the copies of those letters, thanking her stars that she’d thought to keep them handy. Billy unfolded them and read them carefully; his eyes widening as he read the final letter, which Trini had supposedly received from him.

“No,” he whispered softly. “I never ...I could never say those things. I could never _think_ those things. She was my friend.”

“She still is,” Janine said quietly.

He looked up at Egon, his eyes moist. “Uncle Egon ...what’s going on? Why is all this happening? Is it a plot of Zedd’s?”

“I don’t know,” Egon conceded. “But I think we need to find the answers ...and fast. I’d suggest we talk to Piniko Soga first.”

“Piniko?” Now Billy was truly confused. “What does she have to do with...?”  Before he could finish his question, his beeper went off again, this time in more demanding tones. He lifted the wrist device to his mouth and murmured something under his breath, then listened to the reply.  “Uncle Egon ...Janine ...I have to go,” he said a moment later. “The others need me.”

“Where are they right now?” Egon demanded.

“Warehouse district ...I have to go.”  Billy pressed a button on his beeper and vanished in a blue blur that ascended heavenward.

Egon glanced at Janine. “Well,” she said, “if he thinks that’s something, wait till we tell him who his girlfriend really is.”

“Come on,” he said tightly, turning toward the car. “Let’s get going.”

“Let me guess,” she said with a sigh as she hurried to catch up with him. “The warehouse district?”

“Exactly. I want to see these ‘Power Rangers’ in action.”

* * * * *

Despite recent history, Zack, Trini and Jason had returned to the juice bar for a war council. Of course, it had helped that Zack had called ahead to make sure their former friends weren’t there. A bit of caution never hurt anybody.

Trini informed them of her phone conversation with Kim. “It was like she couldn’t wait to hang up,” she finished sadly. “I thought that maybe, just maybe I could straighten things out with her, but I guess I was wrong.”

“Man, this sucks big time,” Jason said softly, shaking his head.

“Well, try sucking on this,” Ernie suggested as he handed Jason his order, a mango shake. “Might leave a better taste in your mouth.”

“Thanks, Ernie,” Jason replied, sipping the cool beverage. The peace conference had nothing that compared to this masterpiece.

Zack smiled slyly. “So, Ernie,” he said casually, “you got anything to offer about this whole situation?”

The chubby proprietor shrugged. “Dunno. Everything was fine until they got those letters from you. Kim really went bananas...” He handed Trini her banana-papaya shake. “No pun intended.”

“Whatever those letters said, we didn’t write them,” Trini declared. “And I still have a hard time believing they wrote the ones we received.”

Ernie frowned. “Hmmm. Someone got a vested interest in keeping you all apart? You guys made one heckuva team...almost as good as the Power Rangers.”

Jason suddenly choked on his shake; Zack slapped him roughly on the back until his friend had recovered. Fortunately, at that moment Ernie’s attention was focused on the TV set by his counter; a news reporter was talking about the sudden appearance of a rampaging dragon-monster in the Angel Grove warehouse district.

“Here we go again,” Ernie sighed, shaking his head tiredly. “Good thing we’ve got the Power Rangers, huh, guys?” He looked around, but Zack, Trini and Jason had vanished, leaving their shakes and some money on the table. He shrugged again and scooped the money up in his big hands. “Well, some things never change,” he said to himself as he headed for the cash register.

* * * * *

By the time Egon and Janine arrived on the scene, the police had cordoned off the main battle zone. Fortunately, Egon had learned the fine art of finesse from Peter Venkman. “Ghostbusters,” he said firmly to the police officer who was trying to bar his way. The proton pack was strapped to his back for added emphasis.

“No kidding?,” the cop retorted. “I thought Halloween had come early. Now get back.”

 Egon grabbed his thrower and fired at a pile of garbage sitting in a nearby alley; the refuse exploded into a small shower of burning rain.  The cop stared at the display for a moment, then shut up and got out of Egon’s way.

“So where are they?” Janine asked, glad that she’d been wearing sneakers all day. Working for the Ghostbusters made one practical about footwear.

Egon consulted his PKE meter. “Over there,” he said, pointing to the north.  They hurried down the sidewalk and turned left at the corner. Sure enough, the Power Rangers were there, struggling for their lives against what appeared to be a giant dragon dressed in traditional Japanese clothing.

“What the heck is it?” Janine asked, bewildered.

“A kimono dragon, of course,” Egon replied. Janine made a face and groaned. As they watched, colorful tentacles shot from the monster’s arms and wrapped around the Rangers’ arms, legs and neck, binding them securely and slowly strangling the life out of them.

“Egon!” Janine cried in alarm as she spotted the Blue Ranger flailing helplessly in mid-air; the Ghostbuster nodded grimly and opened fire. The energy blast hit the creature dead center and ignited it. As the fire blazed upon its chest, the monster recalled its bindings and fell to the ground, rolling on its belly to put the fire out. The Rangers fell to the ground, but quickly rose to their feet and regrouped.  The Blue Ranger turned around, saw Egon and Janine, and nodded once.

The Red Ranger yelled something, and the others quickly assembled their individual weapons into one mean-looking gun, which Red fired at the monster.  It screamed ...no, _laughed_ , and sent a long tentacle at his foes. It slammed into the gun and shattered it, sending an energy feedback ripping through the Rangers and stunning them.  Only the White Ranger was still standing, and with a cry of rage he leaped into the air at the monster, his saber flashing in the afternoon sunlight. He slashed and hacked at the monster, slicing the cloth wrappings that tried to bind him.

“Wow,” breathed Janine.

“Fascinating,” Egon agreed.

Finally the creature got in a lucky shot, spewing hot fire from his mouth. The White Ranger went flying backwards toward his friends. He hit the pavement hard, and the Pink Ranger hurried over to his side while the others flanked their leader. He slowly rose to his feet and shouted angrily at his enemy, who laughed derisively and taunted them to attack again.

Janine heard something behind her and turned around; Jason, Trini and Zack were running up to join them. “We miss much?” Jason asked breathlessly.

“Stalemate right now,” Janine replied. “How’s the cheek?”

“I’ll live,” he shrugged. “Jeez,” he said upon seeing the Rangers’ foe. “A kimono dragon. How lame can you get?”

“Were they all that dumb looking?” Zack asked, incredulous.

“Didn’t seem that way at the time,” Trini added. Suddenly she gasped as the creature attacked again, catching the Rangers flat-footed and ensnaring them once more in his multi-colored bindings.  It laughed evilly as it dragged them closer to where he stood.

“Aw, geez, Tommy,” Jason said despairingly. “Use that damn sword and cut yourself free!”

“His arm is pinned. He can’t,” Trini said, shaking her head.

“Egon...” Janine said in warning, but he had already taken aim. The shot sizzled through the air and burned through several of the strips keeping the Rangers prisoner; the next shot set the monster on fire again. The third shot, this time aimed for the head, caused it to scream and run wildly around in circles.

“Nice shooting, Tex,” Janine said in admiration. Egon smiled back.

A small metal globe suddenly soared down from the sky. The monster caught it in one hand and popped the lid off. There was a muffled explosion, and before their eyes it began to grow, easily topping fifteen feet before it was done. Now its laughter boomed like afternoon thunder as it stormed forward, trying to crush his tiny enemies.

“Come on, Tommy,” Jason pleaded. “Call the damned Zords!” And as if he’d been heard, the Rangers raised their arms and called out the names of their mystical totems.  One by one the Zords appeared: the Lion, the Unicorn, the Griffin, the Firebird, and the magnificent Red Dragon.  From the opposite direction came a growing rumble, and in moments the Tigerzord came into view, roaring its defiance and racing into battle.

“Fascinating,” murmured Egon.

Before their eyes the five Zords came together, forming the Thundermegazord. As they merged, the White Ranger shifted his own Zord into battle mode, creating a white warrior to stand beside the Samurai-style conglomeration. The monster roared with laughter and attacked the Thundermegazord, which struggled to keep its balance against the onslaught.

“That’s ridiculous!” Egon snapped. “That’s not strategy! A far better plan would have been to keep the Zords separated and attack the thing from different directions! This way they’re one big target to center on! What on Earth are they thinking?”

Jason and Zack traded uneasy glances at each other, but said nothing.

The White Tigerzord fired a volley of energy bursts at the monster, which staggered backwards and fell, crushing six warehouses under its weight. The bindings around the Thundermegazord snapped back to their master, leaving the construct free.  It reached for its samurai energy sword and withdrew it from the sheath, then raised it high into the air, poised to strike.

And the monster inexplicably charged forward ...straight into the sword’s descending arc. The blade sliced through the creature like a knife through cream, and the creature fell to the ground, then exploded with an impressive display of smoke, fire and thunder.  The Thundermegazord stood with its back to its fallen foe, sheathed its sword, and vanished seconds later, along with the Tigerzord.

“I do not believe this,” Egon said, shaking his head in disgust. “I cannot believe this.”

“Neither can I,” Jason said softly from nearby, his eyes riveted on the battle site. “And I used to be in the middle of it!”

“How could we have been so stupid?” Zack groaned. “Why didn’t we see?” He looked at Jason and grinned. “You know, thinking back, you could have saved us a heckuva lot of trouble if you’d called for the stupid power sword right off the bat!”

Jason shrugged. “I dunno. At the time, it didn’t seem ...right, somehow. Not fair. I can’t explain it.”

Trini sighed. “Well, they’re probably off to the Command Center to celebrate their victory. What do we do?”

Egon turned to the teenagers. “Well, you could come with us to visit Piniko Soga.”

“Why?” Trini asked, curious. “What does Piniko have to do with this?”

“I’m not sure at the moment,” Egon replied. “But I’m fairly certain that she can provide us with some answers at the very least.”

* * * * *

The Power Rangers returned triumphantly to the Command Center.

“Aw-right!” Rocky and Aisha, still clad in their Ranger uniforms, gave each other a high-five. Kimberly and Tommy set their helmets down on a convenient console and smiled at one another; Billy hurried over to the console where Alpha was working and set to work with the robot, while Adam watched over their shoulders.

“I guess we showed Zedd who’s still tops, huh?” Rocky beamed.

“YOU HAVE DONE WELL, RANGERS, AND SHOULD BE PROUD OF YOUR VICTORY. BUT I FEAR YOUR WORK IS NOT OVER YET. BEHOLD THE VIEWING GLOBE.”  The Rangers hurried over to the shimmering sphere, which was focusing on Angel Grove High School. Seconds later, the team saw Egon, Janine and the former Rangers heading through the front door. “THE DISGUISED PUTTIES AND YOUR FORMER FRIENDS ARE PREPARING TO KIDNAP PINIKO SOGA.”

Billy whirled around, the color draining from his face. “What disguised putties? Why would they want Piniko, Zordon? What’s going on?”

Tommy and Kim came over; the White Ranger put a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder. “That’s not your uncle, Billy. Zedd’s sent some putties down to trick you into helping him, somehow.”

“Like, Zordon showed us a little while ago, while you were talking to them in the park,” Kim said, her eyes sorrowful. “I’m really sorry, Billy.”

“No.” Billy’s head shook back and forth. “That’s insane. That’s my Uncle Egon. I know it.”

Kim winced. “Billy ...I’m sorry...”

He shook his head. “No,” he whispered. “It can’t be...”

“RANGERS, THERE IS MORE YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO TO RESCUE YOUR FRIEND.”

“Like, what else could we possibly need to know?” Kim retorted, a trace of peevishness in her voice. “So now they’re going to try and grab Piniko. We’ve gotta stop ‘em. So, like, what else?”

“BEHOLD THE VIEWING GLOBE.”

“Sometimes I think I ‘behold the viewing globe’ more than I watch TV,” Aisha grumbled as they circled the sphere again. Piniko Soga appeared; she was sitting in the library, ostensibly reading one of her textbooks. On closer examination, however, it turned out that a romance novel was wedged inside the book.

“ZEDD PLANS TO USE HER TO CAPTURE THE SIX OF YOU ALONG WITH YOUR FORMER FELLOW RANGERS,” Zordon explained.

“PINIKO! NO!”  Without warning, the Blue Ranger activated his teleport device and vanished from the command center. Kim and Tommy looked at each other a bit sheepishly, then glanced up at Zordon.

“YOU MUST HURRY, RANGERS. BRING THEM ALL HERE. PERHAPS ALPHA AND I CAN FIND A WAY TO CURE THEM OF ZEDD’S EVIL TAINT.”

Tommy glanced around at his friends. “Let’s do it.”

* * * * *

Piniko Soga stared at the five people around her. Instinctively, she pressed a little closer to the wall behind her. “I ...do not understand, Dr. Spengler. What questions of yours could I possibly answer?”

Egon’s stare could melt titanium. “I know who you are. I want to know why you’re here, what your connection to this entire scenario is, and what Billy’s role in it is as well.”

The girl trembled slightly, cowering before the angry Ghostbuster. Janine would have felt sorry for her had she not known that this frightened little bird could probably slide and dice them all into cutlets if it suited her. “Piniko,” she said as gently as she could, “if you care for Billy like I think you do, you’ll understand why we’re worried, and you’ll help us understand what’s going on so we can help.”

Zack nudged Jason and Trini. “This is weird.”

“Tell me about it,” Jason muttered.

“I am sorry,” Piniko pleaded tearfully, “but I do not understand what you are talking about, Dr. Spengler. Please, you are frightening me.”

“Hardly,” he snorted.

“Egon.” The tone in Janine’s voice made him pause. She shook her head curtly at him, then returned her attention to the trembling girl. “Piniko ...we know who you really are.”

“I ...I...” She shook her head wildly.

“Uhh, Dr. Spengler, I think you really are scaring her,” Jason interjected.

“I don’t think anything short of Lord Zen would frighten her,” the Ghostbuster retorted.

“Zedd,” Jason automatically corrected; the glare he received from the scientist made him shut up.

“Zack?” The former Ranger whirled around to find Angela approaching him. Her eyes were wide with concern. “What’s going on? Is something wrong with Piniko?”

Zack’s mind raced for an appropriate explanation and came up with nothing. And the hell of it was, he didn’t want to lie to her any longer. He wanted her to trust him. Unfortunately, the truth would sound more deceptive than any creative falsehood he could muster.

He glanced over at Trini and Jason, who weren’t doing much better than he was, and took a deep breath. “Angela . . .”

Just then Billy appeared from around the corner. He hurried over to join the group, concern and anger fighting for control. “What’s going on here?” he demanded. “Uncle Egon, why are you bothering Piniko?” His gaze softened somewhat when it fell upon his friends. “Trini ...Jason ...Zack ...something odd is going on here...”

“Hi, Billy,” Trini began, then all hell broke loose.

Without warning the Power Rangers materialized around the small group. The White and Pink Rangers grabbed Jason and dragged him kicking and yelling backwards away from Egon and Janine. The Yellow Ranger grabbed Trini, and the Red Ranger Zack.

“Damn it, Rocky, let go!” Zack screamed as the Red Ranger secured his grip on his captive. He glanced over at Angela; she had pressed herself against the lockers, hands tightly clenched against her mouth and eyes wide with disbelief and panic. Zack squirmed and writhed furiously, but Rocky’s grip was far too solid. He was helpless.

The Black Ranger lunged for Billy, who barely managed to sidestep his opponent. But the Ranger’s left hand managed to snag Billy’s morpher and send it flying across the floor, well out of reach. Adam rolled back onto his feet and prepared to try again...

Piniko Soga’s right arm plunged downward. Her hand wrapped itself around an unseen object and pulled it free. A blinding explosion of light flashed momentarily, and suddenly Scorpina stood among them, her sword poised to strike.

“Scorpina,” the Pink Ranger gasped. “Oh my gosh, Tommy, Billy’s been snogging with Scorpina!”

The golden-clad warrior stepped forward, blocking the Black Ranger’s path to Billy.  Her sword traced small circles in the air as she swayed back and forth; her eyes burned with obsidian fury. “Go away, Ranger,” she warned in a low tone. “You will not capture my beloved or his kin.”

The Black Ranger paused, unsure of what to do--he had expected some resistance from Billy, but Scorpina was another thing entirely. She took advantage of his hesitation, slamming the flat of her blade against his chest and knocking him down to the floor.

“Quickly!” she cried to Billy, Egon and Janine. “We must leave immediately!”

Egon grabbed Janine and Billy and pulled them beside Scorpina. “If you’ve got a plan, I’d suggest you implement it now!” he yelled.

“We are gone!” There was one final burst of bright light and fury, and the Power Rangers found themselves circling empty air. Nearby, Angela gave up trying to understand what had happened and slowly slid to the floor in a dead faint.

And of course, no one noticed the janitor standing nearby, leaning heavily on his mop and staring at the assembled Rangers with his bright crimson eyes.

 

 

 


	9. Interlude Two

_Rita dreamed._

_She dreamed of sleeping for untold ages, lost in the labyrinth of her shattered mind. And then one day, someone opened the door to her cell, and with a long cackle of brittle laughter she lifted her arms into the sunlight, free at last. But she was no longer Bandora; that name belonged to another woman, another time and place. Who had she become?_

_RITA REPULSA came the answer. She let the name slide across her tongue and found it oddly satisfying. So be it._

_She looked around the barren wasteland where her prison had sat for untold centuries and wondered where in the hells she was. Then her eyes fell upon a planet floating placidly in the sky, and the answer was obvious: she was on a moon. For some strange reason the planet vexed her greatly; there was something ...no, someone upon it, someone she hated with all her heart and soul. ZORDON. The name pierced her heart with terrible agony, though she couldn’t remember why. But so long as he lived, the pain would remain._

_Fine. She’d rid herself of the irritant the easy way; she’d destroy the whole damned planet._

_In order to do that, though, she’d need lackeys. Rita Repulsa remembered the strange inhabitants of her dreams and raised her wand high above her head. With a flash of mystical energy, the creatures came to life: Goldar, the winged monkey. Finster, the molder of monsters. Squatt and Babboo, the.... well, they had to have a purpose. She’d figure out what it was later._

_Next ...every empress had to have a suitable dwelling. Rita thought one up and made it real._

_She sat on her throne and sent her monsters to the site that most irritated her, a small town called Angel Grove. She ordered them to destroy it first, then the rest of the planet. She should have expected that The Hated One would take allies of his own, but the first appearance of the Power Rangers was a shock nonetheless. And they wouldn’t go away. Time and again she’d send her nastiest minions to destroy them, and time and again the Rangers would win. It got quite annoying._

_One day she happened to find the Green Ranger’s power coin in a pocket of her robe, and Rita smiled as a terrible plan evolved in her twisted mind. She found a handsome young man in Angel Grove and enslaved him, overwhelming his soul with her sweet darkness.  She gave him the coin and made him her Green Ranger, sworn to serve her for all time. And then, for some odd reason she couldn’t quite explain, she took him to her bed and further bound him to her through the chains of passion._

_And to further shift the odds in her favor, she summoned her daughter from her own sleep and demanded that she join in the fight. Lamia was reluctant at first but eventually acquiesced, taking the name ‘Scorpina’ at her mother’s insistence. Rita smiled and sent her new soldiers to battle, confident that this time, the Rangers and the hated Zordon would finally fall._

_Wrong. Not only did her daughter and Green Ranger fail, the latter somehow escaped her spells and joined the Rangers._

_And then came the day when Lord Zedd, a figure both familiar and unknown to her, appeared without warning. He usurped her castle, her throne, her minions and sent her back into her cell, back into oblivion..._

_Back into her dreams..._


	10. Things Come Together, Things Fall Apart

“I’m sorry, man.”

Jason simply continued to stare at Tommy, ignoring his former friend’s apologies. There was no expression of anger, of accusation, of pleading in Jason’s face. There was nothing at all in it, which only made it more damning. Tommy finally sighed and turned away, trying to ignore the icy feeling in his stomach and the doubts in his head.

Jason, Trini and Zack were secured within one of the Command Center’s holding cells; Alpha had rigged it up as soon as the Rangers had gone forth to grab their ex-comrades. The trio stood silently within the cage, making no protest against their captivity. Zack and Trini stood at the backside of the cell, their arms folded over their chests as they stared accusingly at the Rangers. If their gazes seemed to focus more on Kimberly, who refused to meet their stares and had moved as far away from the cells as she could, no one could blame them.

“WHERE IS BILLY?” Zordon asked Tommy.

“Scorpina got him, Zordon.” The White Ranger’s voice was full of disappointment and contrition. “She’d been posing as Piniko all this time. I guess she was working undercover for Zedd, trying to get to Billy.” He shrugged his shoulders. “We blew it, Zordon. I’m sorry.”

“DO NOT APOLOGIZE, WHITE RANGER. YOU WERE ABLE TO SEPARATE THE FORMER RANGERS FROM ZEDD’S INFLUENCE, AND WE WERE UNABLE TO DETECT SCORPINA’S PRESENCE IN ANGEL GROVE. ONCE WE ARE ABLE TO HELP THESE THREE, WHEN ZEDD AND HIS MINIONS STRIKE AGAIN, WE WILL BE ABLE TO FREE BILLY FROM HIS EVIL INFLUENCE AS WELL.”

Jason’s head perked up, and his eyes narrowed as he stared at Zordon. “Evil influence?” he echoed. “If there’s an ‘evil influence’ enslaving anyone around here, it’s yours, Zordon, on them.” He nodded toward the other Rangers.

Kimberly came over to the cell. She tried to ignore the pain in Trini’s eyes, choosing instead to focus on Jason. “Look,” she pleaded softly. “Like, I won’t say that the things you said didn’t hurt a lot, but, well, if I knew that it was because of Zedd, not really the way you felt about me, I could forgive you, Jason! We could be friends again--all of us!” Her eyes darted quickly over at the other two prisoners, then hurried back to Jason’s face. “Please, Jason--let Zordon help you. Let him find a way to free you, okay?”

He stared at her for a long time. “Kim,” he finally said. “I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what you read, but I promise you-- _I didn’t write any of it._ Not a word. I ...you guys were my best friends. I couldn’t hurt you. You know that.”

“I want to believe you,” she pleaded, tears filling her eyes. “But ...Zordon...”

“You gotta choose who to believe, Kim.” His gaze was steady, almost unnerving. Tommy had come over to join Kim, and now Jason’s gaze transfixed him as well.  “Me ...the guy you’ve known for years, the guy you’ve trusted for a long, long time ...or Zordon. You gotta decide, both of you.”

For a long time, nothing was said between the three. Then, slowly, reluctantly, Kim turned away. Tommy’s face was ashen as he turned his back on Jason, who merely shook his head and sighed.

“Hey, it wasn’t a complete loss,” Adam commented. He held up Billy’s morpher. “Zedd can’t have Billy hurt us too badly if he doesn’t have this.”

“Not,” Kim snorted. “Billy doesn’t need that to hurt us. He’s got his lab and his brains.” She snatched the morpher out of Adam’s hand and tossed it to Tommy, who looked at it for a moment, then shrugged and gave it to Alpha for safekeeping.

 “Hey, something just occurred to me,” Adam spoke again, checking around to make sure Kim wasn’t going to cut him down again. “That didn’t look like the Scorpina Aisha and I fought.” He glanced over at the young black woman, who nodded in agreement.

Zordon had overhead them. “SCORPINA APPARENTLY HAS BEEN GIVEN THE ABILITY TO CAST MINOR SPELLS TO DISGUISE HER APPEARANCE AND BLOCK HER PRESENCE FROM OUR SCANNERS. THIS MAKES HER EVEN MORE DANGEROUS, RANGERS.”

Tommy looked up at the Rangers’ mentor. “What should we do, Zordon?”

“FOR THE TIME BEING, RETURN TO ANGEL GROVE AND KEEP WATCH FOR SCORPINA AND BILLY. WE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR FOR THE BLUE RANGER’S PRESENCE AND ALERT YOU TO HIS LOCATION SHOULD HE OR ANY OF ZEDD’S MINIONS REAPPEAR. ADAM WILL REMAIN HERE WITH ALPHA TO ANALYZE ZEDD’S SPELL AND DEVELOP A CURE FOR IT.”

“Me?” Adam squeaked. Science was more Billy’s forte than his.

“YOU ARE THE BEST QUALIFIED OF THE RANGERS TO ASSIST ALPHA, ADAM. I HAVE EVERY CONFIDENCE IN YOUR ABILITIES.”

“Well ...okay...”

Aisha slapped him on the back. “Hey, don’t worry about it! And for an encore, you can make Bull and Skull human next!” The other Rangers laughed, but it was laughter tinged with self-consciousness and uneasiness. They were all too aware of the stares coming from the holding cell, all too aware of the guilt that lay heavy on their souls.

* * * * *

They were everywhere and nowhere all at once; there was no up, no down, no direction, but at the same time there was no disorientation. They floated gently about the black nothingness ...and then without warning they were standing on an unseen surface, and some sort of order slowly manifested itself around them.

“I must apologize,” Scorpina said with a slight smile. “I was not expecting visitors.”

“Quite all right,” Egon assured her. “Anywhere’s a better place to be than where we were.”

“Where are we?” Billy demanded. His face was crimson as he angrily confronted Scorpina. “What have you done? Where are my friends?”

“Beloved,” she said so softly it served to diffuse his rage, “we are in my dimension. This is my refuge. You are my guests, not my prisoners. Which,” she added with a bit more edge to her voice, “is more than you would be had I let the Rangers capture you.”

Billy shook his head despondently and sat down on something that he was pretty sure hadn’t been there a moment ago. “I don’t understand anything,” he moaned. “I ...Uncle Egon, help me!”

Egon smiled and sat down beside his nephew. “All right,” he said. “I think I can get us started on the road to the answers. But this isn’t a good place.” He looked up at Scorpina, who couldn’t quite hide her own feelings about Billy’s outburst at her. “I assume you could take us anywhere we needed to go?”

She nodded. “From here all places are the same. Time,” she added with a slight smile, “is a bit trickier, but I suppose I could manage.”

“That’s not necessary,” Egon assured her. “Take us to the basement of Ghostbusters Central.”

“The basement?” Janine said incredulously. “Wouldn’t the first or second floor be better?”

“No,” the blond scientist said with a smile. “The basement has precisely what we need at the moment.”

Scorpina nodded. “Then it is done.”

* * * * *

“I dunno, Ray,” Winston Zeddemore was saying; he and Dr. Ray Stantz were standing directly in front of the containment unit at Ghostbusters Central, studying the readings on the main control console with worried expressions. “Was it this high when we blew up the first time?”

There was a soft “thump” from nearby; both men turned to watch a slow, steady rain of dirty clothing pouring out of a small shaft in the ceiling. Despite the gravity of the situation, they smiled at one another, then returned to the crisis at hand. “So,” Winston repeated. “Is it as high?”

“No,” Ray gulped. “It’s higher. We redesigned the grid to hold more, remember?” There was another soft thump as a particularly big pile of bed sheets hit the floor, but this time they ignored it.

“I hadda ask. So what do we do?”

Before Ray could answer, the basement door banged open. Seconds later, Peter Venkman came ambling down the stairs, dressed in an old faded pair of gym shorts, a pair of socks that had seen better days during the Depression, and a ratty old shirt of indeterminate color. “What’s up, guys?” he asked with a wave.

“We’re running over capacity,” Ray replied.

“Any chance of us going boom?” Peter retrieved a ladder from the corner of the basement and placed directly under the laundry chute; next he grabbed a broom and brought it over, then climbed up the ladder and began thrusting the broomstick up the chute.

“I don’t know,” the pudgy Ghostbuster said with a shrug. “Anything’s possible. We never figured we’d bag this many when we built this one.”

“Well, Sharyn said that the phones have been quiet, so I suppose we could just wait until Egon gets back. Or, if worst came to worst, we could keep any spooks we nab in the traps, couldn’t we?”  A few stray socks and t-shirts drifted down from the clogged chute.

“I don’t know,” Ray said. “The traps weren’t meant to keep ghosts in them indefinitely. Sooner or later something would have to give.”

Winston walked over to where Peter was working and peered up into the chute. “Nice outfit,” he commented.

“Laundry day.” Without warning an avalanche of malodorous clothing came rumbling down; Winston was barely able to jump back, but Peter was completely enveloped. “Phew!” he said with a disgusted wrinkle of his nose. “Put this off way too long, you know?”

“I just wish Egon was here...” Ray said, and one abrupt explosion of light later, he had his wish.

* * * * *

Billy didn’t know what to do first. He wanted his uncle to explain himself. He wanted Scorpina to explain herself. And most of all, he wanted a tour of Ghostbusters Central. But from the look of things, the first and third items were going to have to wait; Egon was hurrying over to join Dr. Stantz at the containment unit, and Janine was heading over to see Mr. Zeddemore, who was standing beside a huge pile of laundry draped over a stepladder. He strained his ears to pick up the conversation between his uncle and his partner; Billy overhead something about “gargoyles” and “Not now, Ray,” but the rest was pretty incomprehensible.

Without warning, Peter Venkman erupted from his laundry mound. “When did you two get back?” he asked Janine.

“Just now,” she grinned.

“You didn’t lose the discount on those airline tickets by cashing them in early, did you?”

“We didn’t fly in.”

“They kinda just popped in outta nowhere,” Winston offered helpfully.

“Wait a minute,” Peter said, his expression growing dark. “You mean we’re still paying for a hotel room out in Angel Grove, and we’re going to have to eat the cost of those round-trip tickets, and we’ll have to pay extra to get all of Egon’s toys back to New York...”

“Oh, Doctor V, you’re such a...” Janine waited for his face to brighten at the prospect of a compliment, then let the boom fall. “ ...cheapskate. Don’t sweat it. We’re going back.”

“More airline tickets?” Peter groaned.

“Nope.” She nodded at Scorpina, who was trying desperately to capture Billy’s attention by looking cute. “She’ll take us back, same way we got here.”

Peter took one look at the armored woman and felt his jaw drop. “Hel-LO!” he called, hurriedly freeing himself from the dirty clothes.  “My name is Dr. Peter Venkman, and I would gratefully become your utter slave if I knew your name...”

Her eyes narrowed, and her nose rose haughtily in the air--given the aroma Peter’s dirty clothing was giving off, it was the only sane way to breathe. “I am Scorpina,” she replied curtly. “And you annoy me.”

“Watch it, Dr. Venkman,” Janine warned as she rejoined them. “She’s a demigoddess.”

“Well, of course she is,” Peter said smoothly. “Obviously the demigoddess of beauty.”

“Not quite.” Scorpina smiled thinly, her eyes narrowing even further. If Peter had known more about her, he would have cut his losses right there and then, while his hide was still intact. “You are interrupting a conversation I am having with my beloved,” she said curtly. “Leave.”

Peter looked at Billy. “Him? He’s your beloved?” He moved closer to the increasingly annoyed Scorpina, oblivious to the fact that he was playing with fire. “Nothing personal, I mean, I’m sure he’s a really nice guy and all, but you realize he _is_ a Spengler? With all that entails? Wouldn’t a slightly older and more experienced ...model ...be...” Peter was abruptly aware of something climbing up his leg. Glancing down, he saw the most pissed-off-looking scorpion he’d even seen in his life making its determined way up toward...

“AHHHHHHH!” The Ghostbuster performed a wild fandango, arms and legs flying in every direction. “GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!”  While the others tried to settle him down, Scorpina knelt down and picked up her pet--which had jumped off Venkman’s leg the instant he’d started writhing around--and kissed it tenderly. “He didn’t hurt you, did he, my precious?” she cooed softly to the scorpion, which wriggled with delight. “All right now. Back home with you.”  She gave it a final kiss, and the insect vanished into thin air.

Billy smiled despite himself. “That was very imaginative. Very effective, too.”

She smiled and nodded, accepting the compliment. “My beloved honors me with his praise.”

“You ...keep calling me that.” And truth to tell, there was some part of him that liked it, responded to it, and wanted to respond to it in kind. But ...she was an enemy. She was an agent first of Rita Repulsa, then of Lord Zedd. She’d tried to kill him and the other Rangers on several occasions, or at the very least made a good show of it.  And yet, when he looked into her eyes, he saw Piniko there, warm and gentle, soft and adoring. And it was the Piniko in her that kept him from flinching away, kept his eyes locked on hers, kept him from protesting as she spoke:

“I never meant to cause you pain, beloved. I wanted merely to be with you, and the only way I could do that was assume another form.”

“So you deceived me,” he said quietly. But the words rang hollow, somehow.

“Yes,” she nodded sadly. “But I had no choice, beloved. Zedd was searching for me. I had to mask my presence. And had I come to you like this,” she gestured at her armor, “you would have delivered me to the Rangers and Zordon. Wouldn’t you?”

Billy had no answer to that.

“I ...it has been so hard for me, beloved,” she continued, her voice breaking and tears filling her eyes. “To be so close to you again ...and yet so far...”  She turned away, sobbing. Billy stood there for a long time, not knowing what to do or say, but a sharp elbow in the ribs brought him back to reality.

“Put your arms around her and hold her, you dummy,” hissed Janine. “Honestly, you Spenglers...”

Slowly, hesitantly, Billy drew closer to the weeping young woman. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and tugged slightly; she turned around, eyes wide and tears streaming down her face, then all but jumped into his arms, whispering “beloved” over and over again. He put his other arm around her waist and held her tight, feeling incredibly awkward and off-balance, but at the same time ...there was some sort of indescribable _rightness_ about it he couldn’t explain. So he continued to hold her close until his uncle returned.

“Problem?” Egon said after studying the situation for a long moment.

“Just young love,” Janine said with a smile. “How bad’s the containment?”

“Bad, but not critical,” came the reply. “Scorpina,” Egon continued in a firm but understanding voice, “we need an explanation of what is going on. As soon as possible.”

She nodded, wiping her tears away and sniffling. Billy fished into his pants pocket and retrieved a tissue for her.  “I ...know you are worried, Dr. Spengler. You have reason to be. There is far more going on in Angel Grove than meets the eye.” She looked up at Billy. “You have always remembered before, beloved. Perhaps not everything at first, but enough that we could join, flesh, hearts and souls, and then all became clear to you. But this time ...this time you do not remember me at all.”

“That’s ...that was true,” Billy stammered. “But...” Something was falling away inside him, some sort of barrier that he hadn’t realized was there until its absence was recognized. And the more he held her, the more he heard her, the more he looked at her, there was some sort of recognition growing. It was a sort of familiarity that he was growing to accept, even enjoy. He was Billy Spengler, and she was Scorpina, but she was Lamia, and she was ... “Beloved,” he whispered. “You’re my beloved.”

“Yes, yes!” she cried happily. “You are remembering at last!” She turned around to face a smug-looking Egon. “How is this possible?” she demanded.

“Two things,” he replied. “First, we’re well out of range of Angel Grove. My suspicion is that there’s some sort of spell over the city that keeps everyone in some sort of innocent thrall. It also tends to keep outsiders from going in.”

“Then how did we get in?” Janine asked.

“That’s the second thing,” he replied triumphantly. “PKE. Our continued exposure to it has given us a sort of tolerance to supernatural forces. When Jason, Trini and Zack came here, they must have picked up enough to permit them to go home--if they hadn’t come here, they probably would have found an excuse to stay away from Angel Grove. As it is, they probably had some reluctance to leave the plane.”

Scorpina nodded. “I saw them arrive. They were ...uneasy.”

“Exactly. And the limited exposure Billy has received has helped cast off the majority of that spell’s effects. Which apparently included his inability to ‘recognize’ you.” Billy blushed and suddenly realized just how closely Scorpina was to him. At the same time, however, he did not retreat, merely looked down at her and smiled shyly.

“I’m afraid ...I don’t remember everything yet,” he said softly.

She smiled up at him and drew his face to hers. “Then remember this for now, my love,” she murmured as they kissed.

“Oh Egon, isn’t is just too sweet?” Janine sighed happily, wrapping her arms around his.

“We really don’t have time for this,” Egon muttered.

“You romantic, you,” Peter snickered.

Scorpina finally broke the clinch and smiled naughtily. “My beloved and I have much to ...discuss,” she informed the Ghostbusters. “We will be back ...shortly.”  And before Egon could protest, they were gone.

Peter peered over Egon’s shoulder and shrugged. “Definitely a woman of the nineties.”

“Well, there’s no point in staying down here,” Janine declared, rubbing her hands together. “Let’s head upstairs. I’ll check on things with Sharyn and fix a snack. I’m sure they’ll be very hungry when they return.”

“Hey, this is great!” Ray suddenly beamed. “I can show you the information I’ve compiled on...”

Egon pressed his fingertips against his temples. “Yes, yes,” he groaned. “You can show me the data on your ‘gargoyles’, Ray. Just let me get some aspirin first. I’ve got such a headache...”

* * * * *

It really shouldn’t have surprised Janine that when she reached the second floor, Billy and Scorpina were waiting. They were lounging side-by-side on the sofa, wearing adoring glances and matching kimonos. Hers was composed of a stunning, shimmering red and gold pattern; his was a knightly blue and silver ensemble. Most interestingly, Billy’s face had a different look to it--his features were more mature looking, more confident.

“Oy,” Janine said, smiling and shaking her head. “That didn’t take long!”

“As I’d said, time passes differently in my dimension,” Scorpina noted.

“Oh. Well, can I get you two anything?”

“We are fine for the moment,” Scorpina said, smiling and snuggling closer to Billy. “I have everything I need right here.”

“If you two are quite finished...” Egon was unamused by the lovebirds’ games.

Scorpina nodded and assumed a more sober demeanor. “I apologize, Dr. Spengler. I was so overjoyed that my beloved and I were at last truly reunited that I got a bit ...impatient. It will not happen again.”

“Sorry, Uncle Egon,” said Billy, looking extremely unapologetic.

The warrior goddess took a deep breath. “What is going on in Angel Grove, Dr. Spengler, is less a battle between the forces of good and evil ...than a board game.” Noticing her beloved’s puzzled expression, she sighed and shook her head. “Zordon has been trapped in his formless state for many centuries now, and time passes no differently for him than it does for you. He grew bored and sought to amuse himself by setting up a sort of living chess game. Of course, he first needed an opponent, so he freed my mother from her prison. She set up her pawns--Goldar, the putties, myself--and he chose his. The Power Rangers.”

“Your mother...” Billy paled. “Your mother is Rita Repulsa?”

Scorpina made a face. “That is her latest name. I knew her as Bandora, back many centuries ago when I was a child.” She touched her lover’s arm tenderly. “Mother was not always as you see her now. She has borne so much pain and anguish in her time, and over time it ate away at her sanity until the Rangers were forced to imprison her for her own good. She lay sleeping in that prison for ten thousand years ...until Zordon freed her.”

“Rangers?” asked Egon.

Scorpina smiled. “My beloved and his friends are only the latest to bear that proud mantle. Long ago, the Rangers were a formidable force across the galaxy. I even fought at their side for a time, while waiting for my beloved to return to me.” She glanced at Billy for just a moment, but in that single gaze was so much love and adoration that Janine had to turn away and stifle a sniffle. “Many brave men and women have possessed the coins through the centuries,” Scorpina continued. “But at some point, Zordon obtained all but one coin and kept them to himself until he needed pawns for his little game.”

“So Angel Grove’s a sort of arena for this to-do,” Janine commented. “And Zordon rigged things so that no one outside the city ever wanted to go in, and the people inside never thought twice about giant monsters attacking, teenage superheroes saving the day, and all that?”

“Exactly.” Scorpina paused to sip at a glass of iced tea. “As things were initially set up, the game was ‘winner take all’. But as time passed, it became evident to Zordon that his champions would eventually triumph. Mother and her schemes were simply too easy to defeat. A stronger opponent was needed. So he summoned Lord Zedd, who imprisoned my mother again and started the game anew.”

“And where do you come into all this?” Billy asked.

Scorpina sighed. “After you left me the last time, beloved, I was weary. I decided to sleep until I sensed your return. There is a temple dedicated to me far off in the mountains of my homeland, and there I dwelt until Mother roused me.” She shook her head. “I was not enthused about playing the ‘warrior villainess’, especially after I realized who you were, but...” She raised her hands, palms up. “She was my mother, and I feared for her...” A smile played on her lips. “And ...I confess it was enjoyable.”

“You found trying to kill us enjoyable?” Billy asked with more than a trace of peevishness.

“If I’d truly wanted you dead, my love, you would not be here now.” Something in her tone made him gulp and shut up.

“So what happened when Zedd showed up?” Egon asked.

“I escaped,” Scorpina replied, the smile gone. “He returned Mother to her prison first; while he was busy dealing with her, I fled, thinking that with time I could find a way to free her and leave all this madness behind. I took the identity of Piniko Soga and with the little magic I am able to command, I masked myself from my enemies.” She smiled sardonically at Egon. “Until now.”

Billy frowned. “Adam and Aisha had a run-in with someone calling herself Scorpina.”

“It was not me,” she sniffed disdainfully. “Zedd must have found someone weak-willed enough to fall under his sway and used his power to create his own version of me.”

“Come to think of it, she did stay out of most of the battle,” Billy nodded. “I kept thinking that wasn’t like you.”

“Now you know why.”

“So...” Billy said hesitantly. “If Rita is your mother ...who’s your father?”

His lover shook her head. “I don’t know. Mother was imprisoned when I was very young. The Rangers put me in the care of a group of priests. They raised me to adulthood ...or, more exactly, when I met you for the first time and we ran away together.” She smiled tenderly.

“Hmmm.” Egon was stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Is there any way we can get into the Command Center and rescue Jason and the others?”

Billy shook his head. “There’s no way to get in without a power coin. Adam knocked my morpher off when they attacked us, so I can’t get in.”

“Or the ability to counter Zordon’s wards. They are considerably more powerful than my abilities,” Scorpina added. “Mother could have, at one time, but her imprisonment drained her considerably. I doubt she could do it even now.”

Egon’s head slowly rose; his eyes were shining with the birth of an idea. “That’s it.”

“What’s it?” Janine asked, but Egon was already on his feet. “Janine, get Billy a set of coveralls, then bring everyone up to my lab. Ray, do you remember that dimensional portal project we’d been working on? The one way we originally wanted to send excess PKE into? Didn’t you tell me you’d brought some of the equipment out of storage because of our current crisis?”

“Well, yeah,” Stantz conceded. “It’s in your lab right now. But the energy siphon was destroyed in the initial test!”

“Doesn’t matter.” Egon was already halfway up the stairs. “Scorpina, I need you to come with me. You’re critical to this experiment.”

“For the last time, mad scientist, what experiment?” Peter demanded.

Egon smiled grimly. “We’re going to free Rita Repulsa.”

* * * * *

Janine and Scorpina stood by the lab door, watching Ray, Egon and Billy as they worked on the dimensional portal system. It was almost uncanny how smoothly the younger Spengler meshed with the other two men, supplying tools and equipment with a minimum of talk. In almost no time at all a bizarre-looking contraption was standing in the middle of the room; it resembled nothing less than a metallic arch of sorts, connected to a nearby control panel.

“All right,” Egon said. He switched the construct on, and Janine gasped as the center of the arch shimmered. A rift in the air appeared, slowly stretching out until it completely touched the gateway.  “There, it’s working,” the blond Ghostbuster nodded. “Now ...Scorpina, could you come over here?”

“Of course,” she said as she gingerly stepped around the arch. Somehow she’d slipped back into her golden armor when no one had been looking. “What can I do, Doctor Spengler?”

“I suspect you can probably start calling me ‘Egon’,” he said with a tight smile. “Just stand there a moment while I obtain a reading.”  He reached over to the bench and retrieved his heavy-duty PKE meter, the model that he used for only the major-league paranormal situations. This time, when he turned it on and waved it around Scorpina, the legs spread wide and a long shriek came from the device, but it did not explode. Egon studied the readings for a moment, then hurried back over to the gateway control panel and entered several notations on the keyboard section.

“What are you doing, Uncle Egon?” Billy asked.

“I’m using Scorpina’s paranormal energy frequency as a baseline for the search parameters. I’m hoping that there’s enough of a similarity between mother and daughter that we can narrow down the number of dimensions we need to search.”  Janine moved over to stand with the others, and gasped as she watched sight after bizarre sight flicker and flow through the portal.  It looked like that strange Star Trek episode about time travel.

A crisp odor of ozone drifted through the air as the search continued. Egon and Ray babied the construct, regulating the power flow and the speed with great care.  Sparks shot from the metallic arch with sharp crackles. “I don’t know how long we can hold it, Egon,” said Ray.

“As long as we can,” the Ghostbuster replied grimly. He took another scan of Scorpina, compared the results to the first time, and made a few minute adjustments to the console.

Minute after minute passed with no luck. Ray’s efforts to keep the device running were growing more frequent. “It’s about to go!” he finally called.

“Just a few more minutes,” Egon pleaded, to Ray or the machine no one could be sure.

And suddenly the image of a remarkably striking woman appeared. Her eyes were tightly shut, and her body lay in funeral-like repose.  “MOTHER!” screamed Scorpina.

“Hold it, Ray!” Egon yelled. He and Billy and Scorpina lunged forward as one and reached through the now-shimmering portal, which retracted just a bit from the arch.

“It’s going!” Ray yelled. “Hurry!”

“Just a few more seconds!” The three rescuers felt their hands grab warm flesh, and they pulled in unison as the portal began to collapse on itself. They only barely got the unconscious woman through before the entire portal went up literally in smoke. She fell on top of them like a lead balloon, sending them all sprawling wildly across the floor.

“Egon?” Janine asked, panic in her voice.

“We’re fine,” he assured her as he slowly rose to a seated position. Billy and Scorpina were similarly pulling themselves up.  They stared at the garishly garbed woman for a long time, as if willing her to return to life.

The fingers of her right hand, tightly wrapped around a bizarre staff, flexed once, twice.

A soft moan came from beneath the robes.  And slowly, surely, she pushed herself up on her hands and knees ...and sighed.

“Ahhh.... after ten thousand years ...I’m free....”


	11. Confrontations

“How long has it been?” Zack asked.

Jason glanced down at his watch. “Eight hours since we got here, fifteen minutes since the last time you asked me.”

“Time flies...” Zack sighed and leaned against the bars of their cell. “How long you think they’re going to keep us here?”

“Till they cure us ...or we starve to death.” Jason snorted and glanced over at Adam and Alpha, who were hunched intently over a console whispering to one another. They’d tried a variety of experiments over the past few hours, most of which involved pretty colored lights and odd noises, but apparently nothing had worked, because the captured Rangers were still in their cell.

If it weren’t so damned serious, it might even be funny, Zack reflected sadly.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” Trini grumbled. She was sitting on the floor, her chin in her hands.

Zack winced. “Don’t remind me.”  He whistled over at their captors.. “Yo! Adam! Any chance we can have a potty break?”

Adam paled and instinctively glanced over his shoulder, but Zordon had vanished a few hours back. “Uhh ...I don’t know. Alpha?”

“Ay-yi-yi, Adam! Don’t you see? It’s a trick! They want you to free them so they can overpower you and escape!”

Trini stood up. “As if we could even get out of the Command Center, or even back to Angel Grove, without you guys calling the others. Sure.” She folder her arms over her chest and glowered. “Look. Either I get to a bathroom, or you’re going to have to find a mop. Your choice, Adam.”

The young man blanched and looked around for some assistance, but no one save Alpha was present.  “Uhh,” he stammered hesitantly. “I ...well...”

Two bright bursts of light--one yellow, one pink--heralded the return of Aisha and Kimberly. The latter was carrying a huge picnic basket on one arm. “Problem, Adam?” she asked.

“Uhhh ...Trini’s got to use the ...you know...”

Aisha shook her head. “And you’re just going to let her sit there until she explodes? Get real, boy.”  She pursed her lips and reached over to the cell console controls; a moment later Trini was standing outside the slightly smaller cell.  “I’ll take her, Kim. You get dinner ready.”

Kim set the basket down on the floor and regarded Zack and Jason. “What about you guys? Potty emergency yet?”

“Gettin’ there,” Zack admitted.

“Adam, get your butt in gear and show him the way,” Kim ordered. The Ranger looked up, a momentary burst of panic lighting up his features, but the expression on Kim’s face made it clear that no excuses would be tolerated. Sighing, he worked the cell console controls and freed Zack, then indicated with a nod for his prisoner to lead the way.

Adam kept a vigilant watch on Zack the entire time. “Man, are you just going to stand there and watch?” Zack finally demanded out of sheer exasperation.

“I don’t want to give you a chance to escape,” his guard said with what he hoped was calm authority.

“Like I’m going to even try, the way I’m feeling?” Zack rolled his eyes heavenward and tried to focus on the task at hand. “So,” he said a moment or two later. “You’re me. The Black Ranger.”

Adam nodded.

“Like it?”

Another nod.

“Cat got your tongue?”

Adam scowled. “I don’t have anything to say to the likes of you. How you could turn your back on your friends like you did...”

Zack whirled around. “How _I_ could? How could you just go around and take everything Zordon says as fact? When you became a Ranger, did you forget how to think for yourself?”  He sighed and shook his head. “I hope to God I wasn’t this bad, but somehow I think I was.  Man.”

Adam shuffled his feet nervously but never let his gaze falter. “Zordon says it isn’t your fault. It’s a spell, man. We’ll get rid of it and everything will be okay.”

Before Adam knew what had happened, Zack had lunged forward, grabbed Adam by his uniform and slammed him into the nearest wall.

“You listen, man. You listen, and you _think_. What have you really accomplished the last eight hours, short of giving me a full bladder and a headache? You aren’t Billy, man. That’s no crime, but don’t you think that Alpha at the very least would have come up with a solution by now?” He stared intently into his successor’s terrified eyes, then abruptly let go and stepped back.

“Come on,” he said in disgust. “Time to take me back to my cell.”

* * * * *

Rita Repulsa’s head moved back and forth feebly. “Free...” she croaked.

Scorpina knelt directly in front of her and reached out to tenderly touch the exhausted woman’s cheek. Rita’s face slowly rose into view, and a small smile shone from her dry, cracked lips. “Daughter...”

“Mother.” Tears shining in her eyes, Scorpina helped her mother to her feet and wrapped one strong arm around her frail form.  “This way, Mother. We’ll find a place for you to sit and recover your strength.”

“So ...barren ...so ...dark...” Rita shuffled across the room, supported by her wand on one side and her daughter on the other.  Billy came over to offer his assistance, and the old woman abruptly stopped, staring intently into his face. “I ...know you...”

“I’m Billy.”

Rita frowned and shook her head.

“The Blue Ranger?”

The frown deepened.

Scorpina smiled. “My beloved.”

The old witch’s eyes narrowed, then her face brightened and she reached out to pat Billy’s cheek.  “Ah. Of course.” She allowed the young man to move beside her and lead her to the sleeping area.  Rita collapsed on the closest bed and lay back on it, closing her eyes and sighing heavily.  “I am so weak ...so drained...”

“It has been a long time, Mother. Rest.” Scorpina accepted the glass of ice water that Janine had brought over and guided the straw to the old woman’s mouth.  “It’s going to be all right, Mother.”

Rita grimaced slightly. “Power.... there is a ...power ...here...”

Egon came over to the bed and bent over slightly. “It’s paranormal energy, ma’am. No threat.”

She nodded sagely, then squinted. “You’re ...a Spengler. Aren’t you?”

Everyone blinked in surprise. “Uhh ...yes, I am. How did you know?”

She snorted. “Clear as day. You stand out ...like sore thumbs. Where ...am I?”

“In New York City. Away from Zordon’s influence.”

Rita scowled. “Definitely a Spengler ...too clever for your own good. All right. What’s he up to ... _this_ time?”

“He’s taken over a town called Angel Grove,” the Ghostbuster explained. “It’s some sort of bizarre match between his forces, a group called the Power Rangers--and someone named Lord Zedd...”

“ _Zedd_?” Rita sat bolt upright. “Zedd?” she repeated. “Gods...” She put a hand to her head. “It’s so hard to make sense of everything ...my memories are clouded ...oh, damn you, Zordon, damn you to every hell imaginable, and damn me with you for my foolish pride...”

“Boy, she’s sure getting better fast,” Janine whispered to Egon.

“I know...” he started to reply, but Winston’s frantic call sent him running to the intercom. “What is it, Winston?”

“Egon--it’s the containment!”

His eyes widened. “Is it going into overload?”

“No, man--just the opposite! In the last two minutes, the levels have _plunged_!”

Nearby, Rita hiccuped and smiled contentedly to herself.

* * * * *

Kimberly walked up to the cell and opened her picnic basket. “Aisha and I figured you guys would be starved,” she said, rummaging through the basket. “So we made some sandwiches and stuff.” She glanced up timidly at Jason. “Interested?”

“That depends,” he replied with a slow grin. “Any of your egg salad sandwiches in there?”

She laughed and handed him one. “I figured you’d want some. Zack? Trini? I’ve got everything you could ask for--chips, sodas, the works!”

Zack glanced up hopefully. “Any more egg salad?” He was rewarded with a flying sandwich. Nearby, the other Rangers had arrived, and they watched the strange scene from the console area. Tommy’s face was twisted in a perpetual grimace.

Trini looked away. “I’m not really hungry,” she whispered.

Her fellow cellmates turned and stared at her. “You have got to be kidding,” Zack declared. “I’ve been spending the last fifteen minutes listening to our stomachs sing a duet.”

“Trini, you gotta keep up your strength,” Jason reminded her. “Aren’t going to do anyone any good if you pass out.”

“I’ve been trying to lose some weight,” she protested weakly.

“Huh?” Zack yelped. “Why?”

“I...” Her shoulders slumped. “All right,” she said meekly. “Just ...anything.” Kim relayed a sandwich to her via Jason, and Trini opened it slowly. The sheer scent of the food made her mouth water furiously, but she forced herself to take slow, small bites and chew everything carefully. Control was essential.

Meanwhile, Jason was starting on his second sandwich. “Heaven as always,” he sighed to Kim’s delight. “Reminds me of the picnic you, me and Tommy went on just before I left for the conference. Up at the Point, remember?”

“Yeah,” Kim smiled at the memory. “That was a perfect day.” Then the reality of now struck, the smile faded, and she looked away. “Jason...”

“Kim.” Slowly, unwillingly, her face turned to meet his intense stare. “Kim, we’ve known each other for a long time, haven’t we?”

“Yeah.” _Don’t cry_ , she ordered herself silently. _Don’t you dare cry..._

“Have I ever lied to you before, Kim?” She shook her head, feeling the tears welling up and hating herself for her weakness. “Kim ...you’re one of my best friends. You and Tommy both. I couldn’t hurt either of you. Never. I love you guys, Kim. You gotta believe that.”

 _Oh, damn. There they go, right down the cheeks. And after all the time I’d spent doing my eyes._ “Jase...” Without realizing it, her gloved hands had wrapped around the bars of the cell. She felt his hands gently press against them. “Oh, Jason,” she sobbed softly. “What’s going on? I’m so confused...”

“Hey!” Tommy declared hotly, marching over to the cell. “What’s going on...?”

And then all hell broke loose.

* * * * *

Egon, Janine and Billy blinked and looked around them in amazement. One second ago, Rita had suggested they pay a surprise visit to Zordon. Before Billy could explain that he no longer had his power coin, the witch had raised her wand high into the air and shouted something arcane. And now here they were, smack in the center of the Command Center, surrounded by stunned Power Rangers.

“Ay-yi-yi!” screamed Alpha. “It’s the bitch!”

Rita snarled and thrust her wand in Alpha’s direction; a bright yellow burst of energy leaped from the moon-like icon atop it and slammed into the robot. Alpha shuddered violently for a second or two, then tumbled lifelessly to the floor, looking all the world like the proverbial puppet with its strings cut.

Unfortunately, the momentary diversion was enough time for the Rangers to recover from their surprise. “GET HER!” Tommy screamed, turning to leap into the fray.

They never had a chance. Rita extended the wand out at arm’s length and made a long, sweeping arc with it; there were no energy bursts this time, but Egon and the others could sense something filling the room. The Rangers halted in mid-attack, staggering slightly and holding their heads in their hands.

Rita’s gaze now fell upon the prisoners. “Enough,” she said, and suddenly the cell was gone. Jason hurried to Kim’s side and wrapped a supporting arm around her shoulders. Nearby, Trini and Zack were doing the same for Tommy and Adam, respectively.  Rocky and Aisha were more or less leaning against each other for support.

“Kim?” Jason whispered.

She looked up slowly. “Jason?” she mumbled dazedly. “What ...I...” She shook her head. “Like, I am so confused...”

“What’s going on?” Tommy said, squinting around at everything.

“Good question,” Zack commented. He looked over at Billy and Scorpina. “You got any answers?”

Billy shrugged. “It’s a very long story. Can you settle for ‘weird stuff’ for now?”

“Yeah,” Zack said slowly. “I think so. For now, anyway.”

Rita, Janine and Egon were standing in the center of the room, watching everything. “Much better,” Rita said with satisfaction. “Much, much better.”

“Great,” Janine nodded. “So, uh, what did you do?”

“I freed them from ...ah.” She glanced up and smiled brightly at the ghostly face glowering down at her. “Speak of the devil.”

“RITA.”

“Husband,” she said with a tight smile.

“Husband?” the Power Rangers, past and present, gasped.

“Husband?” Scorpina echoed, glancing first at Rita, then at Zordon.

“Father?” she asked meekly.

* * * * *

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, RITA?” Zordon demanded.

“I’ve freed them from your spell.” Rita lowered her staff to a vertical position. “They can think for themselves now.” The fury in her eyes grew deeper, darker, sharper. “And I’m just warming up, husband.”

“WH-WHAT?”

The fury now flowed across Rita’s face. “I have a few bones to pick with you, you toad-humping, pasty-faced, lying, deceiving abomination of life itself.  You used me. After all we meant to each other ...after all I did for you ...you used me as your plaything. Your little opponent. And I am royally pissed off about it!” Energy crackled around her body, and the top of her wand began to glow ominously.

“THIS IS NOT THE TIME OR PLACE TO DISCUSS SUCH THINGS,” Zordon replied, with just the slightest tinge of worry creeping into his normally calm tones.

“Au contraire, my dear,” Rita smiled nastily. “You manipulated these children as well. They have the right to know just what you’ve done. Let’s explain the spell that made them extremely agreeable to anything ‘wise Zordon’ said to them. Let’s talk about the suppression of their natures so that they’d be ‘good little Rangers’.”

Egon strode over to her side, his gaze seething with barely-contained fury. “While we’re at it, let’s discuss your exposing them to all that morphing energy without any thought to potential aftereffects, shall we?”

Janine jumped in. “Yeah--and let’s talk about sending them into battle time and again. And let’s be sure and talk about how you shattered their bonds of friendship with those phony letters you mailed to them.”

Kim had been listening intently; now she turned around and stared at Jason. “Jase...” she whispered, and without warning leaped into his arms and hugged him tightly. “I knew it,” she whispered. “I knew it couldn’t have been you!”

“Glad you finally admitted it,” he grinned. Kim withdrew, blushing and wiping her eyes on her pink sleeve, then went over to Trini and hugged her as well.  Jason turned and faced Tommy. “Well, partner?” he said quietly.

The White Ranger glanced down at his feet for a minute, then took a deep breath and looked his best friend in the eye. “I’m sorry, man. I should’ve known better.” He offered his hand. “Friends?”

Jason shook his head and smiled. “Partners.” He moved forward and embraced Tommy tightly; after a moment, the stunned Ranger returned the bear hug.  Nearby, Adam was apologizing profusely to an amused Zack as Aisha and Rocky looked on uncertainly.

“Well, Zordon?” Rita demanded imperiously. “What about your apology to them?”

“IT WAS ...NECESSARY.”  The words rang hollow.

“Like hell it was. You manipulated all of us for your own little games, but now it’s over, and it’s time to pay the price.” She raised her wand; a gentle shudder of power filled the room. “It’s time to do what I should have done ten thousand years ago...”

Tommy’s eyes widened as he realized (or thought he realized) what Rita intended. He hurried past his comrades and positioned himself directly in front of Rita.  “Don’t.”

Her gaze fell upon him, and the energy buildup subsided. “Tommy,” she smiled. “My Green...” The smile faded as she stared at the different uniform. “No,” she whispered. “You’re my Green Ranger...”

“Not any more,” he said with a smile. “I lost those powers, Rita. Zordon made me the White Ranger instead.”

Rita screamed in anguish and whirled around to face Zordon again, fury and pain etched like jagged lines upon her features. “DAMN YOU, ZORDON! HOW DARE YOU! **HOW...DARE ...YOU**!”  She raised her wand high, and a terrible bolt of lightning flew from the moon, striking Zordon’s interface screen full blast and shattering it into infinitely tiny pieces.  “ **DAMN YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID**!” Rita continued to scream, and the energy continued to rage across the now-destroyed construct. “ **TO HIM ...AND TO ME**!”

Tommy grabbed her by the shoulders. “RITA!” he shouted. “RITA!”

She blinked once, twice, and stared into his eyes. The fury slowly ebbed away from her face. And then, to everyone’s surprise, she fell into his arms and began to weep. “Oh, Tommy,” she sobbed brokenly. “My Green Ranger ...my beautiful Green Ranger ...how could he do this ...how ...”

Kimberly had slowly moved over to join her boyfriend. “Rita? What’s wrong?”

The witch squinted through tear-filled eyes. “White ...don’t you see?”

Kim shook her head. “Well ...no, actually.”

Rita shuddered. “I ...I can’t explain. But those rituals have not been performed in thousands of years--with good reason! And he ...he...” And now the tears were falling once more.

“But, like ...Tommy lost his powers,” Kim stammered, trying to understand.

“No.” Rita shook her head. “Impossible. I gave those powers to him. That coin was mine by right, mine to do with as I pleased. And it pleased me to give it to him.” She looked up and caressed Tommy’s face tenderly. “Oh, my lovely Green Ranger...”

Kim scowled. “Like, getting a bit too friendly there, aren’t you?” She folded her arms over her chest expectantly.

Rita laughed through her tears. “My dear, there is no ‘too friendly’ between my Ranger and I. You do remember, don’t you?” she asked Tommy, who was growing redder by the moment.

So was Kim, but for different reasons. “Tommy,” she said in a low voice. “You didn’t...”

“Uhh...” He smiled weakly. “Kim ...she put me under a spell...”

“The first time, at least. The other times were all _your_ idea,” Rita purred. Kim’s hands clenched into twin fists and she stormed off, Tommy glancing back and forth between the two women before chasing the furious Ranger.  The others meanwhile tried to look away or hide the grins on their faces.

Egon cleared his throat. “Rita,” he called. “As much as I’m pleased to see everyone friends again, I have to wonder if this is the right place for a reunion.”

“Agreed, Mother,” Scorpina nodded, glancing around the Command Center uneasily. “I am wary of staying in the home of our enemy for any longer than necessary.”

“Good point,” Rita agreed, her eyes still riveted on Tommy’s retreating backside. “Ah well,” she sighed. “Where do you suggest we go, daughter?”

“There is my pocket dimension. Give me a moment to prepare for guests...” Scorpina and Billy winked out of view a second later; Rita sighed again and slumped over slightly.  Egon and Janine were instantly at her side.

“Are you all right?” Janine asked.

Rita nodded. “I’m tired, is all. And I’ve used up a good portion of the energy I took from your containment earlier. It was enough to serve my initial purposes, but if I’m to be of any use in the coming battle, I’ll need to tap deeper magicks soon.”

“Coming battle?” Egon echoed.

Rita looked up at him tiredly. “You certainly don’t think this ends his game, do you? No, no, Dr. Spengler. Zordon’s retreated somewhere to lick his wounds and assess his options, but he’s not done. If nothing else, he’ll want to avenge this little humiliation, and...” Her gaze grew troubled. “Zordon ...is much like a child,” she finally said. “He’s been playing with this game for some time now. And now it’s over ...and...”

“And?”

Rita’s gaze narrowed. “And now it’s time to pick up the pieces and put things away. In this case, Angel Grove, the Rangers, and anything else that suits his purpose.”  She slowly straightened up and raised her wand into the air. “Including the entire planet if he’s feeling particularly petulant.”

Before Egon could respond, Rita cast her spell, and one final explosion of light later, the Command Center was empty once more.

 

 


	12. Catching Their Breaths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Power Rangers (all of them!), along with Egon and Janine, get a brief respite in Scorpina's dimension.

It was amazing what a difference a bit of preparation made, Janine noted to herself as she looked around Scorpina’s pocket dimension. There was now a ceiling above her head, a floor beneath her feet, and walls surrounding her. The room in which she, Egon and the Rangers had been transported to was huge but comfortably so; torches lined the stone walls, and a huge fireplace was blazing comfortably not too far away.  Surrounding the hearth were several huge piles of pillows, and a plush, immense fur-lined carpet lay stretched out over the stone floor. _Nice digs if you could get them._ The Ghostbusters' secretary nodded in approval.

“Welcome to my home,” Scorpina announced. She and Billy had somehow gotten back into those beautiful silk kimonos, looking every bit the lord and lady of the house ...which, Janine reflected, they probably were. “I have prepared rooms for everyone; you are invited to rest and refresh yourselves. Later, we will convene in here to discuss the situation and determine our future course of action.”

“And we’re supposed to just trust you?” Adam said dubiously, remembering the other Scorpina who’d played on his emotions and subsequently betrayed him. “I mean, you and Rita were the bad guys just a little while ago, you know. And now we’re all one big happy family?”

“An interesting way to put it, young Adam,” Rita smiled. “You’re very perceptive, more than you give yourself credit for. Yes, you can trust us. And yes, in a strange way you are brothers and sisters of a sort.”  She walked up to where the young man stood, pretending to ignore the slight flinch her proximity caused. “Let me put it this way, if you’re still uneasy. You’re at our mercy right now. Your morphing powers won’t work here. You can’t summon your weapons or Zords. You can’t leave unless my daughter or myself allows it. So you might as well relax and play along, hmmm?”

Adam gulped. “Well, put that way...”

“Thought you’d agree.” Rita motioned with her wand toward a nearby hallway that hadn’t been there a moment ago ...or had it? “Your rooms are that way. You’ll know which one is yours when you reach it. Go and rest until I summon you. There’s much to be said and done before we’re through.”  The Rangers reluctantly obeyed, heading for the hallway and casting uneasy glances back at Rita.  She smiled and waved playfully at them in reply. Only when she was certain they could no longer see her did she let her confident facade slip; her shoulders slumped and she leaned against the wall with a heavy sigh.

Scorpina was there in a heartbeat. “Mother, you need to rest,” she chided gently. “You’ve done too much too soon.”

“I know, I know,” Rita replied, patting her daughter’s hand. “I’ll be fine. I just need to tap into a few magical sources and get myself charged up again.” She smiled crookedly. “If I know my Green Ranger, there’ll soon be quite the torrent of tantric magic to refresh myself with.”

“You noticed how he and Kimberly were glancing at one another,” Scorpina said with a smile.

“And don’t forget Jason,” Rita added. “Add him to the mix, and I’ll be glowing!”

“I don’t think that’ll happen,” her daughter said, shaking her head.

“It’s his destiny, daughter. Sooner or later, he’ll go to them. It’s where he belongs.” She glanced up at Scorpina. “Now, don’t you think you ought to be with your beloved, rather than gossiping with me?”

“He is waiting,” Scorpina smiled. “I wanted to be sure you were all right.”

“Oh, I’m fine now,” Rita said, waving her hands. “Shoo. Go. Get busy making grandchildren. I’m not getting any younger, and now that I’m finally free, I want a chance to spoil this bunch rotten.”

“We’ll see what we can do,” Scorpina called as she headed for her bedroom.

* * * * *

“This is it,” Janine declared; she and Egon had felt a sudden urge to pause before one particular door. “And don’t you even begin to tell me that you’re not getting the same vibes. I know better!”

“I wasn’t going to say a thing,” he replied, opening the door and peering inside. To call the place ritzy was an understatement; on one side of the room was a bed that was far beyond king-sized, complete with huge pillows and satin sheets neatly pulled back; a fireplace blazed softly nearby. On the other side was something that resembled a wading pool more than a bath. In between was a table set for two, with all kinds of food simmering in silver bowls and plates.

“Fascinating,” Egon breathed.

“Beats the Holiday Inn, huh?” Janine grinned. She shut the door behind them and hurried over to the bed. “Oh, Egon, look at these!” She held up a pair of kimonos, much like the ones Billy and Scorpina had been wearing, but one was bright pink and the other powder blue, and each had the Ghostbuster logo exquisitely stitched over the left breast.  “Oh, they’re beautiful!” the redhead cooed, delightedly. “These are better than Hilton Head! I wonder if we can keep them! Oh Egon, this is just the way I always hoped our honeymoon would be!” She looked up from her kimono examination and frowned. “Egon? Egon, where are you?”

“Mmmph.” The Ghostbuster was standing over the table, stuffing himself with everything he could find. The fork was a blur as he sampled this, tasted that, grabbed seconds on another....

“Hmmph,” she snorted softly to herself. “Men. Food over romance, every time.”

* * * * *

Rita closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. Her breathing grew slower and deeper; she felt the steady throbbing of her blood as it rushed through her body. She took a deep breath and extended her senses, caressing the lines of mystical power that pulsed and vibrated all around her. Tantric energy seethed and crackled from several sources, waiting impatiently to be fed and freed. She smiled and withdrew, returning to her body. Soon, she would have all the power she needed. She could wait. Waiting was something she’d learned over ten thousand years.

Meanwhile, it was going to be some time before the Rangers would be ready to learn the truth of things, and for all her claims of eternal patience, Rita was bored silly. The world had changed in so many wondrous ways during her imprisonment. She wanted to see it all, learn everything she could as quickly as she could. But how?

A stray thought from Dr. Spengler caught her attention, and Rita smiled. She cast a quick spell and suddenly the Ghostbuster’s laptop was sitting in her lap. A second spell allowed her to tap into his mind and quickly absorb the rudimentary skills needed to operate the machine. A wonderful device; she’d never need viewing globes or oracles ever again with one of these.

She aimed the arrow at the Internet connection, then hesitated. A second icon caught her attention. She frowned and considered it for a moment, then two, then aimed the arrow at it and clicked.

The world could surely wait a moment or two while she played a quick game of Solitaire.

* * * * *

Kim couldn’t believe her eyes. There was a huge bed with pink satin sheets, a dresser with everything she could possibly need and more ...there was even a Godiva mint sitting on the pillow. “Like, I have died and gone to heaven,” she breathed.

The pink kimono slid through her fingers as she picked it up, and suddenly her clothes felt grungy and coarse in comparison. Come to think of it, her skin felt that way, too. Scorpina had mentioned a bath, but where ...Kim spotted a door across the room and smiled.  She peeled off her clothes in a quick series of motions, grabbed the kimono, and hurried over to the door. The thick shag carpet tickled the soles of her feet as she walked.

“Oooooh...” This wasn’t a bathroom, not by any stretch of the imagination. It looked like an underground pool, lit just enough to make things visible. The walls were rocky, almost cave like; Kim let her fingers brush against the nearest one, and she could feel cool dampness against her skin. But it was warm in here, pleasantly comfortable, and Kim could feel her skin begging to get into that water as soon as possible.  She walked over to the edge of the pool and dipped a foot in...

“Definitely died,” she sighed. She set the kimono neatly nearby and stepped into the pool...

“Wow!” came Tommy’s voice from nearby. Kim froze momentarily, then lunged for the kimono and slipped into it as fast as she could. She turned around and found him standing in a doorway that she was pretty sure hadn’t been there a second ago.

“Our rooms connect!” Tommy grinned excitedly. “Neat hot tub, huh? What’s the water like?”

“Do you mind?” Kim asked pointedly. “I was about to find out, okay?”

“Oh. Sorry.” He suddenly noticed Kim’s robe and beamed. “Hey, I’ve got one of those, too,” Tommy said, noticing that Kim was giving him intense dirty looks but not sure why. He held up a bright green kimono and grinned. “I guess Rita’s kind of set in her thinking about me, huh?”

Kim’s shoulders stiffened, and her hands tightened around the fabric of her kimono, pulling it tighter around her.

“Kim?” Tommy asked, coming closer to the pool. She abruptly found the vanity near her own door more interesting and left the warm waters to study it in more detail. “Kim, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she growled. “Maybe it’s just that I thought you loved me, and now I find out you and Rita were, like, doing the wild thing behind my back!” She turned around to face him, her face red with anger. “Damn it, Tommy, I thought I meant something to you!”

“Kim...” Tommy rolled his eyes and sighed, two actions that didn’t help his cause. “Kim, that stuff happened before we even started going out! Before I even knew you!” He tried to put his hands on her shoulders, but she angrily shoved him away. “Kim, I don’t care what she said--yeah, maybe some of that stuff was my idea, but I was under that spell of hers the entire time! Kim ...Kim, it’s you I love, not her. You gotta believe me...”

Kim’s glare intensified, then softened somewhat, and finally she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “God, Tommy, I don’t know why. It just pissed me off something bad, knowing that she’d gotten to you first, and we’ve never so much as...” She looked up into his eyes, and without warning pulled his face down to hers. It was a kiss that started slow but quickly sizzled, growing longer and deeper with every passing second. His arms pulled her close to him. His hands pressed her body against him. Her fingers slid through his long black hair. Her mouth opened against his lips and without warning her tongue slid into his mouth; after a moment of stunned amazement, he reciprocated with ever increasing enthusiasm.

Their bodies were trying to reduce the space between them into atoms. Kim felt an aching need grow inside her, one that only he could fill. She felt something hard pressing against her leg, and instinctively she knew that it was the key to what she wanted with all her heart and soul. She broke free of the kiss to moan, “Tommy...” and he took advantage of the freedom to kiss her neck and ears.  “Oh, God, Tommy...” she breathed, feeling every inch of body on fire, “Oh, God, Tommy...”

“Kim...” Somehow their robes slipped away from their bodies as they sank down to their knees, then to the floor, but neither of them really cared. Lost in passion, they never heard the soft creak of a third door opening, then shutting.

* * * * *

Jason let go of the doorknob and closed his eyes. “God,” he breathed, feeling his blood roaring through his body, one area in particular. “God,” he repeated. He had wondered why, for all its furnishings, his room didn’t have a shower. He had an uncomfortable feeling that it hadn’t been an oversight.

Tugging at his bright red kimono, Jason hurried out the front door and down the hallway. He paused at the entry to the central chamber; Rita was sitting comfortably in a huge oversized recliner, idly fiddling with a laptop computer. The incongruity of the sight somehow struck him as hilarious, and he snickered before he could stop himself.

Rita appeared not to have heard him; her eyes were locked on the laptop screen. “Why aren’t you with them?” she asked without looking up.

“I think that’s kind of private,” he said, struggling to keep his voice level. He walked over to where she sat and peered over her shoulder. “Put the three of hearts on the four of clubs,” he suggested.

Rita glared up at him and shut the game down. “Just as well,” she grumbled as she set the computer aside. “Seven games, and I hadn’t won once. Now...” she continued, her eyes boring into his. “Why aren’t you with them?”

“They’re...busy.”

“Indeed they are,” she replied amiably. “You really should be with them, you know. You want to be.”

He shook his head rapidly. “No. They’re...that’s the way it should be. I’m not going to screw things up for them. I mean, mess things up. I mean...” He sighed and closed his eyes. “I don’t know what I mean.”

Rita sighed and leaned back in her chair. “They’d welcome you. Both of them.”

“How would you know?” he declared angrily.

She shrugged. “I’m a witch. I read karma as easily as you read comic books ...or, in your case, Black Belt Monthly.” Her eyes suddenly widened, and her mouth made a small “o”. “Oh dear. Kimberly...”

“What?” Jason demanded. “Is Kim all right?”

“Oh, yes....” Rita shuddered slightly. “So is Tommy. Oh my yes. They’re _quite_ all right...” She turned to Jason and smiled. “Where were we? Oh yes ...my ability to read karma. Child’s play, really.”

“Yeah, right,” he snorted angrily. “Says the witch who liked to make giant monsters for fun.”

Rita smiled and shook her head. “We’re talking about you, not me. And I know that you want to be in there with them ...or, one of them at the very least ...more than you know.”

“No,” he whispered, looking away. “I can’t. It isn’t right.”

“There’s no right or wrong about it, Jason. You cannot deny the way you feel. It’s part of you.”

He whirled around angrily. “I never asked to feel this way! Why? What did I do to deserve this? You’re so damned smart, Rita, you tell me!”

“All right,” she nodded. “How about this--in your previous life, you killed them in a fit of angry jealousy, and then yourself, and this is the payback to restore the karmic balance.”

He blinked once, twice, three times. “Huh?”

Rita sighed. “Sit down. You’re making me nervous.”  A chair suddenly appeared beside him; when he’d complied, she gently pressed her hand on his and smiled. “You, Kim and Tommy have always been bound together in your past lives. You’re drawn to each other. I don’t know why, you simply are. Anyway, in your past life, you were a very handsome, wealthy and powerful young man. Kimberly was your wife, and Tommy was your best friend. The problem was that you and Kim had tried for many years to have a child, but nothing happened. It caused a rift in your relationship; you blamed Kim for her barrenness and stopped sleeping with her. In anger she turned to the arms of another man ...Tommy ...and conceived.”

Jason stared at the witch. “You’re kidding.”

“No,” Rita replied, shaking her head. “At any rate, she made no effort to hide her condition from you, nor did she hide the identity of the father. She taunted you with the knowledge that your best friend had done what you could not. And finally, one day you arrived home unexpectedly and found them locked in passion, and you snapped.  You took your sword and with one stroke pierced both their hearts.” She took a deep breath.  “And then you did the same thing to yourself.”

Jason’s eyes were tightly shut.  Rita squeezed his hand tenderly.  “That was then. In this life, they are your closest friends, and nothing can ever change that. Even Zordon’s treachery couldn’t--at some basic level, they knew you couldn’t have betrayed them, and you knew better too. That’s why you were driven to contact Dr. Spengler. You three have been brought together to restore the balance ...and I promise you this, Jason: no matter how many times you run away from the way you feel, you will always return to them. None of you will ever be truly happy unless you are together.”

Without warning Jason exploded in tears; Rita drew him to her and held him in her arms, rocking him gently. “Help me,” he sobbed. “I don’t want to feel like this, I can’t feel like this. Change it. Please...”

“I can’t, dear boy,” she said softly. “I can’t. This is part of who you are. You must learn to accept it.” She lifted his face up so that his eyes met hers. “Go to them,” she repeated. “They won’t turn you away. Accept it and you’ll finally know peace. I promise you.”

He shook his head. “I can’t,” he said brokenly, wiping away his tears.

“All right,” Rita said quietly.  “Then sleep.” She pressed her fingertips against his forehead, and Jason slumped over in his chair. She conjured up a blanket and tenderly wrapped it around him, then bent down and kissed him gently on the cheek.

Then she returned her attention to the laptop.

* * * * *

Overall, Aisha was satisfied with her room; it had the basic amenities and the bed was pretty comfortable. Unfortunately, her roommate was finding them less than desirable. Aisha rolled her eyes and tried to ignore Trini’s relentless pacing across the room. It was a losing battle.

“Will you just sit down and eat something?” she finally demanded.

Trini froze in mid-stride. “I’m not hungry,” she declared sharply.

The dark-skinned Ranger stared at her predecessor. “Girl, what is your problem?”

“I don’t have a problem.”

Aisha sat up on her bed and stared at the thin Oriental teen. “You are skinny as a rail, you had to be all but threatened to eat at the command center, and your stomach sounds like the 1812 Overture. I think you’ve got a problem, even if you don’t.”

Trini’s eyes flashed angrily. “I don’t know why Rita insisted on putting us together,” she declared haughtily.

“Maybe it’s because I’m the only one of us who’ll tell you the truth.” Aisha sighed and shook her head. Her hair had been bothering her ever since they’d arrived in this crazy place; for some reason, it no longer looked or felt right. She wanted to do something with it, but didn’t know quite what. But that could wait. “How long have you been this way?” she asked.

Trini folded her arms around herself. “Since Germany,” she admitted. “Every time I looked in the mirror, I saw how fat I’d gotten. I exercised. I watched what I ate. It didn’t matter. I was still fat.”

“You ought to talk to someone,” Aisha softly suggested. “You need help.”

“Maybe.” Trini closed her eyes tightly. “I wish...I wish Rita would wave that magic wand of hers and make everything right again. We would all be friends, we’d all be happy, and things would be so simple and clear again.”

“Can’t go back to fantasy land, girl,” Aisha said, shaking her head sadly. “This is reality.”

“I know,” Trini agreed. “But frankly...I think I preferred the fantasy.”

* * * * *

Adam belched.

“Good tone. Needs a bit more bass, though,” Zack suggested from across the table. Between them lay the remains of a once considerable spread, laid to waste through the considerable efforts of two hungry teenagers.  Adam was sitting opposite his predecessor, finishing off the last bites of a giant chicken leg.

“I needed that,” he sighed contentedly.  He looked around. “What’s for dessert?”

“You have got to be kidding,” Rocky said angrily. He had declined to join the feast, stating curtly that eating in the house of their enemies was utter stupidity. He sat sprawled in a nearby sofa, glaring at his roommates and wondering what he could possibly do. From all indications, all of his fellow Rangers were under Rita’s spell. And damn it all, his stomach was growling more loudly by the minute. “How can you guys just sit there and act like everything’s okay?” he snapped.

“I’m hungry,” Adam replied, looking a little hurt by his friend’s attitude.

Zack shook his head. “Look, man,” he said soothingly. “Like Rita said, if she wanted us dead, we’d be dead. We aren’t. So why not play along and see what happens?” He waved a chicken leg in the air. “Your eyes say ‘no’, but your stomach says ‘oh yes’.” Adam bit off a snicker and looked away; Rocky’s expression darkened, then he relented and held up a hand. Zack tossed the meat over to him with a smile.

“I still don’t like this,” Rocky said between bites.

Zack shrugged. “Can’t say I do either, but under the circumstances...” He looked over at Adam, who was rummaging about the table. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s not a complete dinner without something for dessert, preferably chocolate,” Adam replied.  His face brightened as he spotted a plate of brownies at the other end of the table, which hadn’t been there a moment ago.  “Hey, Zack, pass those things over, will you?”

“One Black Ranger to another.”  Before he handed the plate over, though, Zack claimed a few for himself. “Y’know, it’s funny...”

“What?” Rocky asked, getting up and walking over to grab a few before Adam managed to devour them all.

“Oh, nothing. Just stupid. I was wondering why Adam was the Black Ranger, that’s all.” Zack grinned. “I mean, to my thinking, it would have made more sense for him to be Yellow, and Aisha Black. Keeping the traditions going and all.”

“Isn’t that kind of racist?” Adam demanded, his eyes narrowing.

“Who, me? Nah. I’m the last one who should be basing uniform on skin color.”  Zack slowly stood up and stretched. “Well, I think I’m stuffed. What else is there to do around here? Any Nintendo?”

“There is now,” Adam commented, staring at the huge television materializing against the far wall.

* * * * *

Scorpina sighed happily and snuggled closer to Billy. The warmth of his body, the gentle pounding of his heart, the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest: there was no greater pleasure than these things, to have them again after so long without.

Billy sighed and gently caressed her back. “It’s so strange...”

“Beloved?” she murmured sleepily.

“Holding you, loving you ...it’s like we’ve done this so many times before, it’s so familiar ...and yet, it’s like the first time.”

She smiled and, raising her head from his chest, kissed his chin. “That’s because it is both, my love.”

He smiled. “It’s just going to take some time, sorting out the old memories from the new.”

Scorpina scooted up so that she could look into his eyes. “You and I will make many new memories together, beloved. I promise you that.” And with that she pressed her lips against his in a long, passionate kiss.

* * * * *

Rita closed her eyes and let her soul drift free from her body. Smiling, she slipped through the walls of Scorpina’s dimension and let herself return to Earth. It was time to perform a little reconnaissance.

The Command Center was dark and silent; Alpha’s body still lay unmoving on the floor. Zordon’s interface screen was black. Rita smiled to herself and ascended through the ceiling, then headed for Angel Grove.  On her way out, she felt the malevolent presence of Lord Zedd; no doubt he was trying to figure out where his foes had gone and why his opponent’s place of power was left undefended. Rita hurried away, unwilling to risk a confrontation so soon.

As she passed the city limits of Angel Grove, she felt the tingle of Zordon’s spell ripple through her, but she laughed at its feeble attempts to control her. It was no more than the sting of a mosquito to her now.

Everything seemed in order. Life was continuing at its normal, serene pace, just as it had for years. Part of Rita was saddened, knowing that this too-perfect facade was going to be shattered before all was said and done, but she was also angered that this artificial lifestyle had been forced upon the residents of the city, all for the pleasure of a madman’s fancy.  Rita grimaced and continued her inspection until every inch of the city had been checked.

He was up to something. She was sure of it. But for the moment all was secure; she could return to her body, summon the Rangers, and prepare them for the battle to come. They would need everything she could give them; she prayed that her all would be enough.


	13. Interlude--A Meeting of the Minds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zedd gets a visit from a very unexpected guest.

_Lord Zedd paced impatiently from one end of his throne room to the other. As he walked, he called upon his various agents, who over time had been carefully scattered all over Angel Grove, and searched for any sign of the despicable Power Rangers. But time and again his efforts met in failure. They were nowhere to be found._

_Goldar opened his mouth, as if to suggest something, but one look from his master and the simian warrior kept his silence. Zedd rubbed what would have been his chin had he any skin and took a deep breath, then carefully stretched out his power toward the center of his foe’s might--the Command Center. As he closed in on the citadel, he sensed a second entity nearby, but ignored it. It wasn’t anywhere near as powerful as he, so should it cause him any grief, he would simply blast it into oblivion. It left a moment later without a challenge._

_Zedd frowned; the shields that normally surrounded the Center were down. A trap? He considered sending Goldar to reconnoiter, then shook his head angrily and dismissed the idea. This was too tempting a target to pass up. His essence stormed forward, charging through its walls._

_The place was abandoned. Even Zordon’s toy lay crumpled on the floor. There was no trace of his most hated enemy, nor of his agents. Zedd carefully probed every inch of the place before concluding that there was nothing worth investigating, then started back toward his body._

_“GREETINGS, ZEDD.” Zordon’s spirit appeared out of nowhere. The evil emperor stopped in mid-flight and summoned his considerable powers; while more vulnerable than he’d be in his physical form, Zedd still had more than enough strength to defend himself and give Zordon a good battle._

_“I COME SEEKING A TRUCE...AND A POSSIBLE ALLIANCE.”_

_Zedd froze for a moment, startled, then laughed uproariously. “You? Allied with me? What possible reason would you have to suggest such a ridiculous notion? Why would I even begin to consider it?”_

_‘WE NOW HAVE A COMMON FOE. BEHOLD.” How Zordon managed to flood Zedd’s mind with the images now racing through it, the dark villain would never know, but he saw Rita Repulsa and the Power Rangers standing together in the command center, squared off against their former mentor._

_“So, your little puppets have cut their strings. How sad for you, Zordon!” Zedd’s laughter was dark and brittle. “What has that to do with me?”_

_“THEY WILL DESTROY US BOTH, ZEDD. THEY WILL NOT STOP AT ME. RITA CONTROLS THEM NOW. SHE WANTS TO AVENGE HERSELF ON BOTH OF US. AND NOW SHE HAS THE MEANS TO DO SO.”_

_Zedd frowned; the fool was obviously telling only part of the truth, hiding the rest. But his words were true enough, and such an alliance between Rita and the Rangers could prove dangerous to his ultimate plans. “All right, Zordon. Let’s assume for the moment you speak the truth. What would you suggest we do about it?”_

_“YOU HAVE A WEAPON THAT CAN EQUAL THE POWER OF THE RANGERS. WITH MY AID, IT CAN BECOME MORE POWERFUL STILL. WITH IT, WE CAN DESTROY RITA AND THESE POWER RANGERS.”_

_“You would destroy your own creations?” Zedd was impressed; he’d never considered Zordon capable of such a heinous act._

_“I CHOSE THEM AS MY AGENTS; I CAN CHOOSE OTHERS SHOULD THE NEED ARISE.”_

_Zedd pretended to consider; in reality, this was far too good an offer to refuse. With the Rangers and that meddling witch destroyed, nothing could stand in the way of total conquest. First Angel Grove, then the rest of the planet! And Zordon would be unable to do anything about it!_

_“Very well,” he said with forced calm. “Allies, then, for the moment. Now, what is our plan of action?”_

_“FIRST, SEND GOLDAR AND HIS ARMY TO RAVAGE ANGEL GROVE. THIS WILL GIVE US TIME TO PREPARE THE TRUE INSTRUMENT OF DESTRUCTION.”_

_Zedd nodded happily. “You know, Zordon, I like your way of thinking. I always felt we had a great deal in common.”_

_“MORE THAN YOU KNOW, ZEDD. MORE THAN YOU KNOW...”_


	14. What was REALLY Going On...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rita sits down with her guests and explains the truth behind Zordon, Zedd, and herself.

Egon Spengler’s eyes snapped open as his mind instantly switched from sleep mode to active status. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the fog that enveloped his vision, then remembered he wasn’t wearing his glasses. But in attempting to reach over toward the nightstand for them, he discovered a pleasant obstacle in the form of a warm, snuggly Janine Melnitz. Reluctant to wake her, Egon slowly, carefully slid his arm out from under her and gently moved away, despite her muttered protests.

Once his spectacles were once again resting on their accustomed perch, Egon quietly pulled on a pair of silk pajamas and wrapped his powder-blue kimono around his lanky frame. Padding softly over to the doorway, he carefully slipped out of the room, grateful that the hinges emitted nary a squeak as he pulled the door shut. Sighing, he scratched his head absently and looked around.

Egon had a tendency to take an immediate visual inventory whenever he was in an unfamiliar setting. Before his fingers had left his scalp, he’d noted that the walls held eight torches for illumination. A pair of torches framed each of the seven doorways. Interesting, too, how the marble floor was warm against his feet, not cool as he’d expected. He really should have remembered to locate a pair of slippers before leaving the room.

Just as he noticed the pair of footwear that had appeared by his doorway, Egon realized that something wasn’t quite right. He counted the doors a second time and once again reached a total of seven. But there were nine Rangers present, not to mention himself, Janine, and Scorpina. That made an even dozen present. Accounting for two couples (himself and Janine, Billy and Scorpina...he still wasn’t quite comfortable about that, but it was a little late in the game to be dictating morality to his nephew, especially given his own personal situation with Janine), that left five doors ...and eight Rangers.

Egon walked over to the door opposite his room. The symbols for the Black and Red Rangers were magnificently etched into the woodwork. The door to the immediate right of his room had Billy’s symbol and what appeared to be a scorpion.  Opposite their room was a door with a saber-toothed tiger. And the three doors framing the back of the corridor bore the icons of the Pink, Green (Rita was remarkably stubborn about some things) and...Red Rangers.

Egon rubbed his chin in contemplation. It would be logical to assume, based on the evidence, that Trini and Aisha were sharing a room. Given the presence of two separate tyrannosaurus symbols, one could surmise that Rocky was with Zack and Adam, while Jason was down here with Kim and Tommy…

Egon recalled how Rita had sucked a considerable amount of PKE from the containment without a moment’s thought. She had, however, expended quite a bit of power storming Zordon’s command center and freeing the Rangers from their entrancement. Rita had looked quite tired when they’d arrived here to rest. She probably needed to recharge her magical batteries somehow, and given the situation they were facing, the sooner the better.

Given the wholesome atmosphere of Angel Grove, it was a logical assumption that all of the Rangers, save Billy, were virgins. Of all the Rangers, Kimberly and Tommy were the closest emotionally. Proximity, freedom from paranormal restraints, teenage hormones storming to the forefront...

“Tantric energy.” Egon’s mouth twisted into a frown as he whirled around and hurried down the hallway in search of Rita.

* * * * *

Rita was sitting in her recliner, a familiar-looking device sitting in her lap. Nearby, Jason lay sleeping in a similar chair, huddled up tightly beneath a blanket.  She looked up at Egon and smiled. “This is a wonderful device, Dr. Spengler. I hope you don’t mind my borrowing it. I didn’t think you’d be needing it.”

Egon ignored the remark. “I don’t approve of what you’ve done here.”

Rita’s eyes were wide and innocent. “Why, Dr. Spengler, I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’re manipulating these kids to your own ends. Is what you’ve done any better than what he did to them?”

She laughed softly. “I must protest, sir. I’ve done nothing save provide them with accommodations. What they do during their free time is their business.”

“You’re feeding off Kimberly and Tommy’s tantric energy. You knew what would happen, and you encouraged it. And I’d hate to think what the others are doing...”

Rita sighed. “Aisha and Trini are arguing about food. Adam and Rocky are playing video games, with Zack watching. Jason is here. As for Tommy and Kimberly...” Her voice trailed off and a gentle smile spread across her lips. “They’re doing what teenagers have been doing for centuries before them, and will be doing for centuries after.” She spread her hands out in resignation. “And if the release of all that pent-up energy just happens to come my way, that’s hardly my fault, now is it?”

“I still don’t like it,” Egon repeated, trying to look stern even though he knew there was little he could do about the situation.

“No one is asking you to like it,” the witch replied placidly. She shut off the laptop and handed it back to Egon. “Fascinating device. I’ll have to get one when this is over.”

“You’re rather confident of the outcome.”

She smiled. “Despite his madness and his faults, Zordon always had an eye for talent. These children will prevail. I’m sure of it.” She closed her eyes. “It’s time to bring them in and tell them what’s really been going on, all this time. Please wake Jason up, if you wouldn’t mind. I think he’d rather not be found this way.”

Egon conceded defeat (for this round, anyway) and moved to obey while Rita summoned the Rangers.

* * * * *

“Sit down. Make yourselves comfortable,” Rita urged as the Rangers filed into the huge living area. Kim and Tommy were arm-in-arm, lost in their own private world and looking heartbreakingly happy. Nearby, Billy and Scorpina were similarly engaged. Jason looked tired but wary, ignoring Zack’s quiet questioning; Trini for her part had managed to slip back on her mask of placid calm. Aisha, Adam and Rocky were sitting together, nodding toward the two couples, whispering to one another and snickering. Rita silenced them with a simple upturned eyebrow.

Rita’s eyes focused on her daughter, as if searching for something unseen, then she smiled knowingly. “Ahh...you didn’t waste any time, did you?”

Scorpina smiled proudly but said nothing; Billy shook his head blankly until his lover whispered something in his ear; whatever the message was, it had a profound impact on him, for his eyes widened and he paled for a moment before smiling stupidly.

“What’s going on?” Aisha demanded.

“Nothing you need to know about right now,” Rita assured her. “Now then,” she continued briskly with a clap of her hands. “We have much to discuss, and I suspect our time is limited, so...”

“Like, just a second,” Kim interrupted. “I mean, Billy’s uncle says we’ve been bamboozled by Zordon, and, like, okay, so Scorpina did bring us here and all and nothing’s happened so far, but...” She shrugged and shook her head. “Why should we trust you any more than Zordon?”

“Yeah,” Adam declared. “You tried to trash the Rangers and Angel Grove long before Rocky, Aisha and I came on the scene. Why should I listen to you--just because you say you’re really on our side?” The other Rangers began to mutter similar feelings amongst themselves; Billy wrapped a protective arm around Scorpina and whispered gentle assurances to her, while Egon and Janine watched the situation deteriorate and waited for Rita--or someone--to restore order.

Jason cleared his throat. “I trust her.”

The other Rangers stared at him for a long moment, then at Rita, then sat down and shut up.

“Thank you, my dear,” Rita said, smiling at Jason maternally. “But Kimberly raises a good point. You have all been under a great deception for some time now. It’s only logical for you to be suspicious, and especially of me. So I offer this: simply sit here and listen to me, and then decide whether I tell the truth or not. If you choose to leave, I will understand and send you home immediately. Do we have an agreement?”

Kim hesitated, then sighed. “Well...okay.”

“Excellent. Well, I’d best start my tale at the beginning. Let me see ...I’ve already told you that Zordon was my husband, back at the Command Center. That seems an appropriate place. Well, I was very young and naive at the time, and Zordon was very, very handsome and dashing, especially in his Green Ranger costume...”

“What?” Kim gasped. “Like, Zordon was the Green Ranger?”

Rita nodded. “That’s right. And it has a great deal to do with subsequent events, but I don’t wish to get ahead of myself and confuse you further. At any rate, my mother was greatly displeased that I had chosen Zordon as a paramour--a virgin contains a great deal of magical energy...” here she glanced over at Egon and flashed him a wicked smile, which made the usually-unflappable scientist blush slightly, “...and a virgin witch is extremely powerful--but I had decided that he was to be my mate, so one night we consummated our union.” She turned to Scorpina. “That produced you.”

“You never told me,” Scorpina said, looking slightly hurt.

“I was caged for ten thousand years, my dear, and when we were reunited, I wasn’t myself. If this has caused you pain, I am terribly sorry...”

The warrior shrugged in an “oh well” gesture. “We can discuss this further at a later date.”

Kimberly snorted in equal parts amazement and disbelief. “Like, you and Zordon did the wild thing? Get outta town!”

Rita regarded her with a haughty glance. “I’ll have you know I was very beautiful in my day, young lady. And very lusty, too.” She flashed a wicked smile. “Still am, too, on both parts. Ask Tommy.” That remark earned the White Ranger a scathing glare from Kimberly, which also served to shut her up.

“At any rate, when Mother discovered I was pregnant, she flew into a terrible rage and attacked Zordon. He fought back, using all his powers and his Zord, but there is nothing more dangerous than a witch whose fury blinds her to her self-imposed limitations. When the battle was over, Zordon lay on the ground, dying in my arms.  With his last breath he gave me the only token of his love he had left...”

“His power coin,” Jason said. Rita nodded.

“But Zordon’s not dead!” Adam exclaimed. “He told us you’d banished him to that weird dimension at the same time you were imprisoned...”

Rita rolled her eyes and sighed. “I asked you to listen to my side of the story. Are you going to listen, or parrot all his lies back to me whenever contradictions come up?”

“Put a sock in it, Adam,” Aisha growled. “Let her talk.” Chastened, the Black Ranger hunched over slightly and found an intricate pattern on the floor to study.

“I understand your confusion, Adam,” Rita said kindly. “I know you have questions, and I know it’s extremely difficult to see what is truth and what is lies. What Zordon told you is the worst kind of lie--one mixed with enough truth to be perfectly plausible. Just bear with me, that’s all I ask.” He looked up to find her smiling brightly at him, and he grinned in return, nodding for her to continue.

“Adam’s got a point, though. If your mother killed Zordon...” Zack began.

“I was getting to that,” Rita nodded. “As I said, I was very young and very foolish. While I remembered Mother’s warning about the consequences of losing my maidenhood, I didn’t realize just how it would affect me. And my grief blinded me to rational thought.” She paused and frowned, as if reviewing memories she’d have preferred to forget. “I held my beloved Ranger in my arms, crying and screaming my fury at my mother ...and then I began to weave the most powerful spell I’d ever tried in my brief life. A spell of resurrection. And I succeeded ...and failed.

“I revived his body and his spirit, but...” She closed her eyes tightly. “I was pregnant. I was out of my mind with grief and fury. I wasn’t in control. The spell was too much for me; I was unable to complete it correctly.” She shook her head sadly. “I revived his body and his spirit ...but was unable to bind them back together.”

Kim shivered and snuggled in closer to Tommy. The other Rangers looked stunned. Only Egon understood the implications. “Zedd,” he said softly.

Rita nodded. “The soul became Zordon,” she answered. “The body ...such as it was ...became Lord Zedd.” She slowly opened her eyes. “The process ...the pain of separation ...drove both of them mad, caused some sort of split personality. As for me ...I lay in a delirium for months, unable to even feed myself. Mother had her servants tend to me ...they even handled my giving birth.” She shook her head tiredly. “I ...don’t really remember things clearly at this point. The spell had destroyed my sanity as well.

“Mother ordered the servants to dispose of the child; they took her to a temple here on Earth, where the monks raised her and trained her. Then she tried to heal my mind and soul, but I ...resisted. If she had tried to help me resolve my grief and pain, instead of trying to make me forget Zordon ...my child...” Rita bowed her head. “I was out of control. I ...killed her.”

Scorpina rose to her feet, walked to where her mother sat, knelt and embraced her tightly. The Rangers remained where they were, each lost in his or her thoughts. Tommy hugged Kim tightly, whispering something in her ear.

“I’m sorry,” Rita said a moment later, sniffling and wiping a stray tear from her eye. “We don’t have time for this. Anyway,” she continued briskly, “word of Zordon’s death reached the other Rangers, and they came looking for him. They found me instead. I attacked them and actually held my own for a time, but eventually they were able to overwhelm me and imprison me in a dimensional cell. And there I sat for ten thousand years.”

“During that time,” Scorpina jumped in, “I grew up and learned the ways of the warrior. Eventually I met my beloved,” and she smiled tenderly at Billy, “who fashioned my first set of armor. The fittings were most enjoyable,” she said with a wistful sigh.  “As the centuries passed, I kept watch for Mother and the return of my beloved...”

“Return?” Rocky asked skeptically.

“Reincarnation,” Egon supplied.

“Oh yeah, right,” the Ranger snorted. He shot the Blue Ranger a disdainful look. “You get around, huh, Billy?”

“Seven or eight times, by my count so far,” Billy answered calmly.

“Oh, come on!” Rocky shot to his feet and looked around at the other Rangers. “Are you people really buying this stuff? Magic spells splitting people in two? Reincarnation? Come on!” He pointed angrily at Scorpina. “She’s claiming to be _ten thousand years old_! You tell me how she can look like that and be that old!”

Scorpina shrugged nonchalantly. “I take care of myself.”

“So, like, what’s your secret?” Kimberly asked her. “Milk baths?”

“With rose and lotus petals, twice a week. Does wonders for the skin.”

Rocky slapped his foreheads. “Come ON! We are STUCK here, God knows where, with two of our enemies, and you’re sitting around just eating all this up and willing to side with them just like that! Have any of you thought that maybe, just maybe, she’s put a spell on all of you, just like she claims Zordon did to us?”

Aisha snorted and stood up to confront Rocky. “And have you considered that if she wanted to, Rita could turn you to toast in an instant for talking like this?” She turned around and looked at Egon pleadingly. “Dr. Spengler, what do you think? I mean, weirdness is your specialty. Should we trust her?”

Egon took a deep breath; he’d been dreading this moment. Janine gave him a hand squeeze for encouragement. _So what do I tell them?_ he wondered. _I’m sorry that you’re caught between two ancient powers that have been feuding for no sane reason? I’m sorry that I never got a chance to do any follow up research on Bandora and possibly find some way of corroborating her story? What do I tell them?_

He cleared his throat. “I believe you owe it to Rita and Scorpina to hear them out. After all, as you pointed out, Aisha, if they truly wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be here now, would you?”

“Oh, great.” Rocky groaned in despair. “Dr. Spook gives her an endorsement now. Great.”

Janine’s eyes narrowed and she rose to her feet. “Young man, you sit down and pipe down this instant, or I’ll turn you over my knee and make you wish you’d never been born! Don’t you dare treat Egon this way! He’s saved the world--the real world, not just your town--more times than you can count! He’s seen things that would send you all cowering in your closets! If Egon says to hear her out, then you’d better do it!”

“Let’s leave closets out of it,” Egon softly pleaded.

“Sorry.” Janine fixed Rocky with a cold, hard stare, after several seconds, the young man sat down quietly. “Come up to New York and read our case files sometime. You might learn something,” she suggested curtly before turning back to Scorpina.  “You were saying...?”

“Thank you, Miss Melnitz,” she said with a polite nod. “In the course of my life, I encountered each of you at various times ...sometimes,” she looked at Jason, Kim and Tommy, “together, other times separately. After my beloved’s last departure, though, I found myself growing tired and decided to sleep until his next incarnation.”

“But, like, how did you know when Billy showed up?” Kim asked. “I mean, he was born awhile back; why didn’t you wake up then?”

“He wasn’t ready to remember me until now,” Scorpina replied. “And the fates have always managed to bring us together. I had faith that somehow, we would find each other again. As we did.”

“So what were Zedd and Zordon doing all this time?” Aisha asked, bored with the current discussion.

Rita shrugged. “Oh, I suppose Zedd was roaming the universe causing trouble. As for Zordon ...the original Rangers must have made contact with him somehow--most likely he found them--and over time, as each Ranger died and the mantle passed to another, his influence and control over the team knew. He was always able to provide them with information, as he could be anywhere instantly ...but they didn’t realize he was insane, and that the information he gave them might not always be the complete truth. He’s a most accomplished liar.

“At some point the Rangers came to Earth and set up the Command Center. This time, however, he didn’t bother to replace the ones who died. That idiotic robot must have been built before the last one expired so that Zordon could be reached and the machinery taken care of.” Rita shook her head. “In his own way, Zordon was as much a prisoner as I.

“At some point Zordon’s boredom must have reached its limits. He searched for some sort of diversion, but naturally he couldn’t find an opponent that challenged him sufficiently.” Rita smiled. “I must have come immediately to mind. So he freed me from my prison, taking advantage of my disorientation and vulnerability to force me to play by his rules. Next, he extended his influence over Angel Grove, forcing everyone within it to conform to his desires. At the same time, he didn’t want any outside interference, so the spell he used also kept people from entering the town. Where he developed such power and abilities, I don’t know. I doubt I ever will.” She shrugged. “He certainly had plenty of time on his hands to study.

“At any rate, once free I created my minions, which to my new memories had been there all along, set up my base and prepared to conquer Earth--starting with Angel Grove.” Rita smiled and shook her head. “I must have truly been out of my mind, not to see the sheer stupidity of that action.”

“It’s not much, but we call it home,” Zack said with a grin.

“Point taken,” Rita conceded with a chuckle. “I attacked the town ...he summoned you original five Rangers ...and the rest you know.”  She spread her hands. “Questions?”

Kim raised a hand. “So, like, why did you make Tommy the Green Ranger?”

Rita took a deep breath. “Well, perhaps on some basic level I sensed that the Rangers were one short. And at some point I discovered I still held the Green Ranger power coin, so once I found an excellent candidate...” She smiled brightly at Tommy, who blushed and looked away sheepishly, “ ...I gave him the coin--after, of course, bending his will to mine.”

“But why did you take his powers away?” Jason asked.

“I didn’t.” Rita shook her head firmly. “Those powers were mine to give ...not take. Tommy was worthy, even after he’d been freed from my influence.”

“But the candle . . .” Trini pointed out, confused. “Goldar told us that you had the green candle, and as it melted, Tommy’s powers would fade away.”

Rita scowled. “The entire business with that candle was planted in my head by Zordon. You should ask _him_ why Tommy lost his powers ...though I’ve an idea.”

“Well?” Kim demanded.

“ _Jealousy_.” Rita’s smile was almost feral. “Think about it. Zordon had been the Green Ranger, won my heart, fought well. Now here comes Tommy, who proves himself to be every bit his predecessor’s equal, and who has won my ...admiration ...as well.” She gazed intently at the Rangers. “If it were you, wouldn’t you be slightly peeved? Jason? Trini? Zack? How did you feel about your replacements filling your shoes so well?”

“I didn’t mind,” Jason said a bit too quickly. Rita stared steadily at him, and he finally cracked a grin. “Well, maybe a little,” he conceded.

“It sure bugged me, and more than a bit,” Zack conceded with a laugh. Trini nodded.

“And remember who controls the Morphing Grid,” Rita reminded. “So ...Zordon tweaked the Grid every so often, causing Tommy’s powers to diminish, then surge, then diminish again. And when that failed to stop my brave Ranger ...he performed the most horrible, heinous act of all. He made Tommy the White Ranger.” Her expression darkened. “And I will never forgive him for that.”

“Why?” Kim asked, puzzled. “What’s the big deal?”

“Yeah,” Tommy added. “I mean, it was a little uncomfortable, but Zordon told me that after this, my powers could never be taken away. I figured it was worth it--being a Ranger and all. You know.”

Rita trembled slightly. “Oh yes. He told you enough truth to make it plausible. Once you gained the powers of the White Ranger, you could never lose them. It’s part of the cost.”

“I don’t get it,” Tommy said, bewildered.

“There have been other White Rangers ...but very few,” Rita said solemnly. “It’s an action only taken in times of dire need as a last resort. The process is long ...painful ...and fatal for the chosen candidate.”

The Rangers jumped with shock. “Fatal?” Jason cried.

“But Tommy’s here!” Kim protested, grabbing her lover’s arm tightly.

“I don’t remember anything like that!” Tommy burst out.

“Be forever grateful you don’t,” Rita hissed. She sighed heavily and shook her head. “The process used to create a White Ranger is full of dark, forbidden spells. Zordon killed Tommy during the course of the “conversion” and locked his soul inside his precious little ‘morphing grid’ while he performed the rituals on the body. And when he finished, he brought the body back to life, locked Tommy’s soul inside and wiped the memory of the procedure from his mind.” She closed her eyes and bit her lip. “Didn’t any of you see? Didn’t you understand? White is the color of **_resurrection_!”**

Billy removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “I...witnessed part of the process,” he slowly admitted. Scorpina slid an arm around his shoulders and pressed her head against his. “I didn’t know what was going on. The entire operation was unlike anything I’d seen before.”

“So...why can’t Tommy ever lose his powers?” Trini asked, dreading the answer.

“His powers are uniquely tied into his body. While the rest of you are connected to the Grid through your coins, Tommy himself is directly tied into it. While the Grid is active, Tommy can access his powers any time. The coin is a sham for Tommy’s benefit. Zordon didn’t want his new toy to accidentally learn the truth behind his powers...and by extension, the rest of the story.”

Tommy slowly rose to his feet and walked over to where Rita sat. He knelt down and put his hand on hers. “Thank you,” he said softly. “Thanks for telling me the truth.”

“Oh, my Green Ranger,” she said tenderly, a tear slowly drifting down her face. “I will never forgive him for what he did to you. Never.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek gently. Everyone, even Egon, had to look away for a moment.

Jason suddenly felt the need to change the subject. “So how does Zedd fit into the picture?”

“Hmmm? Oh. Yes. Zedd.  I suspect that Zordon summoned him. I was no longer a sufficient opponent. The game was becoming one-sided. Zedd evened the odds for a time, but soon it became obvious to Zordon that something drastic had to be done, or else the game would come to an end, and he wasn’t ready for that.”

“Huh?” Jason shook his head; the other Rangers were similarly puzzled.

“You were winning,” Rita informed them. “You took the worst I could dish out, given my circumstances, and came out on top every time. Zedd gave you a bit more trouble, but the second generation Zords--the ones Zordon created--made the playing field level again. But soon Zordon realized the problem lay within his players, not his opponent.

“You original five--Jason, Kim, Trini, Zack, and Billy--were extremely formidable from the start. You meshed from the opening round. When Tommy was added to the mix, you were unstoppable, even against Zedd. If Zordon was to keep the game going, some of you had to go. Hence, when the ‘peace conference’ opportunity came up, he took advantage of it and sent you three packing.”

“So, you’re saying the only reason we’re Rangers is because we’re losers,” Rocky said ruefully.

“No, that is not what I am saying,” Rita said, shaking her head. “You three have certainly held your own, and you work well with Kim, Tommy and Billy. But...” She sighed and shook her head. “There were karmic forces at work with the original team that made them unstoppable. It’s not a poor reflection of your abilities at all. Don’t take it as an insult.”

“Well ...okay,” Rocky said slowly; Aisha and Adam looked even less mollified, but said nothing.

“Once Zordon got rid of you,” Rita continued, looking at Jason, Trini and Zack, “he wanted to be sure you’d stay away from the Rangers. The spell of influence might not keep you from returning--as you saw, it didn’t. But your minds were clear of his lies now, and you would see the truth ...and tell the others about it, and possibly free them as well. So he intercepted your letters to one another and rewrote them to hurt you and keep you all apart.” She glanced over at Egon and Janine and smiled. “Fortunately, you had the good sense to contact Dr. Spengler and talk to him about Billy. And that,” she said with a sigh, “is my story. It’s up to you to determine who is telling the truth.”

The Rangers glanced at one another uneasily, save Rocky, who refused to meet the gazes of his friends. “I believe her,” he finally mumbled.

“I think we all do,” Aisha agreed.

“So, like, what now?” Kim asked. “We’re free, we sure won’t listen to him any more. Game over, right?”

“I’m afraid not.” Rita’s eyes narrowed. “Think of Zordon as a child. He’s done playing his game. What’s the next logical step?”

Egon cleared his throat. “To clean up after himself. Put the pieces in the box and put the game board away.”

The witch nodded glumly. “And it gets worse. There has always been a duality to the relationship between Zordon and Zedd. Each hates the other, but each needs the other in order to survive. Don’t think it hasn’t entered Zordon’s mind that you might rebel against him and try to destroy him before he hurts someone else. Alone, he can do nothing. But with Zedd...”

Suddenly Rita’s went wide and the color drained from her face. A hoarse little scream squeaked past her lips as she crumpled into a heap. The Rangers moved as one to her aid, but Scorpina was there first. “Mother!” she cried, cradling the trembling woman in her arms. “Mother, what’s wrong?”

Rita extended a shaking finger toward a sphere that hadn’t been there a moment ago.  “Look...” The Rangers turned as one and gasped at the sight shown all too clearly within the globe.

Angel Grove was under attack by putties. But something had changed--instead of wandering aimlessly and gibbering to themselves, the strange creatures were assaulting anything that stood in their way, be it cars, buildings or people, until it was gone. The citizens of Angel Grove were screaming and running for their lives as the gray masses surged forward.

Goldar hovered above his army, dispatching orders and laughing nastily as he watched his forces lay waste to the city. His sword was stained with blood.

“Oh my God,” Kim breathed. “I mean, gosh.”

The globe shimmered; Angel Grove grew mercifully out of focus and a new image slowly formed. From all appearances, the scene was from outer space. The Rangers could see Earth hovering peacefully in the darkness. Then ...something floated along the left side of the image. Something dark, metallic, incredibly large and radiating evil.

It undulated wildly as it moved. As it finally passed the unseen camera, its full shape came into view.  It was something the Rangers had seen before and had hoped they’d never see again.

“Serpentera,” Jason whispered.

“Oh shit,” Rocky muttered; Aisha shot him an angry glare, and he quickly put his hand to his mouth, wondering where that had come from.

“Rangers,” Rita commanded as Scorpina helped her to her feet. “Zedd and Zordon are both within Serpentera. They intend to wipe out first Angel Grove, then the rest of your planet. You’re the only ones who have any hope of stopping them. I will aid you as best I can, but the battle must be yours to fight. What do you say?”

Tommy slowly looked at each of his friends: Rocky, Aisha, Billy, Adam ...Kimberly. They each nodded fiercely. Then he glanced up at Jason, who gave him a thumbs-up. He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

“Let’s do it,” he said quietly.


	15. The Siege of Angel Grove

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's all-out war between Zedd & Zordon's forces on one side, and the Rangers, Rita and the Ghostbusters on the other.

Angel Grove was under siege. And unlike previous times, the enemy meant business. The citizenry ran for their terrified lives as the gibbering gray army swarmed every street, every building, every nook and cranny. And wherever they went, the putties left carnage and blood in their wake--shattered windows, overturned cars, smoke and flames, and bloody bodies left a clear trail of where they’d been.

Five putties stormed Bulkies and went on a wild spree, destroying tables, chairs, and counters with sheer abandon. They did, however, pause in their destruction to take long drinks from the soda dispenser, lapping the colas up like dogs. Bulk, who’d stopped at his father’s store for a quick snack, took advantage of the respite to flee. Moments later, he turned to see the place explode in a huge fireball. He didn’t even have enough time to mourn the loss of his father’s livelihood, as three nearby putties spotted him standing there and attacked. With surprising speed for such a big fellow, Bulk ran for his life.

He found Skull five blocks over; his friend was cornered in an alley, surrounded by putties and defending himself and a five-year-old girl with nothing more than a garbage can lid. The putties jabbed their weapon-arms at him teasingly, toying with their terrified prey. Bulk stood there for a moment, mouth agape, then he looked around wildly and ran out of the alley and down the street until he found an abandoned beauty shop.

Skull hadn’t seen his partner, as he’d been too busy cowering behind his makeshift shield and desperately parrying his attackers’ jabs. But the sound of a familiar “YO!” made him glance up and stare at the entrance of the alley. Bulk was standing there, a sneer on his lips and his legs spread wide in a gunfighter stance. “Come on, dirtbags!” he called to the putties. “Come take me on!”

The putties glanced at one another and gibbered a moment or two, then stormed forward.

Bulk whipped his arms up. In his right hand he held a can of hairspray; in his left, a butane lighter. In his heart, he held the fervent hope that he remembered how the guy in the movies had done this.

As the putties closed in, he pressed the spray nozzle down and flicked the lighter. A sheet of flame erupted, smashing into the putties and igniting them instantly. Within seconds there was nothing left of them except scorched clumps of rubber and a foul stench in the air. Bulk opened his eyes and hurriedly let up on the can, which was all but empty now anyway.

“BULK! YOU WERE GREAT, MAN!” Skull cried as he and the little girl ran over to join the stunned hero. “You saved our lives, man! The Power Rangers couldn’t have done better!” When his buddy didn’t answer, he peered up into Bulk’s face, then waved his hand back and forth in front of him. “Bulk? You okay?”

“I think I wet my pants,” Bulk whispered, his eyes still wide.

* * * * *

Goldar, the winged simian warrior, soared above his troops and laughed harshly. His huge sword was tinged with dried blood, as were his armored fists. He was proud of his mindless armada, pleased with their performance so far. He had waited so long for a chance such as this, to finally do battle unencumbered by his master’s restrictions, to wage pure war against these puny creatures and reduce this damned city to rubble. Only one thing troubled him at the moment--there had been no sign of those annoying Power Rangers. Goldar ached to engage them; he would show them once and for all just how deadly he could be.  What a shame, too, that his old nemesis, the original Red Ranger, had given up his mantle to another, less worthy, individual...

A blast of energy slammed into Goldar from behind, sending him tumbling into his minions.  Roaring with rage, he picked himself off the ground and retrieved his sword, glancing down at his singed fur and trying to ignore the odor that wafted around him. With one powerful leap, Goldar soared skyward, searching for the fool who’d dared challenge him.

He spotted his foe just as a second blast smashed into his chest. Goldar tumbled from the sky a second time, and Egon Spengler smiled grimly. “That’s two, monkey boy,” he muttered under his breath, then raised his thrower in readiness.

This time Goldar emerged from the ground, shoving his putty troops aside as he stormed toward his tormentor. “Fool!” he bellowed at the top of his lungs, brandishing his sword and waving it wildly in the air. “You will pay for this indignity!” He turned toward his putties. “KILL HIM!”

“Not today!” came a cry from above, and Goldar almost smiled when he looked up and saw the source of the taunt.  The White Ranger stood poised for battle on the roof of a nearby storefront. As he slowly turned in a semicircle, Goldar saw the Red Ranger ...the Yellow Ranger ...the Black Ranger ...the Blue Ranger ...and the Pink Ranger ...waiting for their leader’s signal.  And the monster smiled, knowing that at least one of his remaining wishes had come true.

“Come to me, White Ranger,” Goldar taunted, waving him on. “Your best against mine--let us see who triumphs today!”

The White Ranger’s right arm made a quick movement, and suddenly his own sword, Saba, glittered in the afternoon sun. “Let’s go, Rangers!” he cried as he soared into the air, and his comrades instantly followed suit.

The battle was joined.

* * * * *

Janine Melnitz raced out of the portal Scorpina had created and hurried to her locker.  “No time, no time,” she panted as she grabbed her pink-and-blue jumpsuit, then slipped into it as she hopped over to her desk and slapped the panic button. “LET’S GO!” she bellowed as Peter, Winston and Ray emerged from the basement, staircase and fire pole respectively.

“What gives?” Peter demanded as he donned his coveralls. “What are you doing back? Where’s Egon?”

“Egon’s in Angel Grove,” Janine replied breathlessly as she tied her bootlaces. “The city is under attack and Rita sent me here to get some help. Hurry up!”  She grabbed a proton pack and strapped it on her back, ignoring the sudden weight against her back.

“Who’s Rita?” Winston asked as he slammed his locker open.

“Rita Repulsa. The woman Ray and Egon pulled out of that doo-dad earlier.”

“Rita...Repulsa,” Peter echoed as he stripped out of his street clothes. “What kind of name is that, besides very alliterative?”

“She’s Scorpina’s mother, she’s ten thousand years old, and she’s a very powerful witch,” Janine supplied.

“Okay.” Peter grabbed his coveralls and slid his legs in. “So is she a good witch or a bad witch? These things are important, you know.”

“She’s on our side.”

“That isn’t an answer,” Peter pointed out.

“That’s the best I can give you,” Janine shot back. “Now shut up and get dressed, Dr. V.”

“Just how are we going to get there?” Winston asked as he slipped his pack onto his back.

“Over there.” Janine pointed toward the shimmering portal near ECTO-1. “We’ve got to hurry, though--Rita can’t help the kids out until we’ve gone through.”

“I’m set,” Peter said, moving over to join her.

“Me too,” nodded Winston.

“Oh, boy!” Ray exclaimed as they walked through the rift. “A controlled transdimensional interface! This is so _neat_....”

* * * * *

The putty army quickly besieged the Power Rangers. No matter how many the Rangers dispatched with kicks and blows, more took their fallen comrades’ place instantly. And unlike prior battles, this time the putties were aiming their bludgeons and blades with nasty accuracy.

Aisha discovered this the hard way. She had just destroyed a putty with a spin and kick when a second one slammed its bludgeon into her left arm. The Yellow Ranger yelped in pain but managed to roll with the blow, falling to the ground and somersaulting under the legs of three other putties.  She rubbed her throbbing limb and grit her teeth against the pain that was shooting up it.  “Damn,” she muttered under her breath.

Meanwhile, the Black Ranger had several rips in his uniform from close calls with a blade-handed putty. “Geez!” he yelled as he avoided another swing, then pivoted and slammed his fists into his foe’s chest. The putty instantly shattered into a thousand pieces. “I thought these outfits could take more punishment than this!”

“Yeah, I know what you mean--these guys mean business!” the Red Ranger yelled as he shattered two putties with a spread-legged kick. A second later he was on the ground moaning as a third putty struck him in a particularly vulnerable area; the Pink and Blue Rangers stood over him back-to-back while he recovered.

“Gotta watch yourself, Rocky,” the Blue Ranger warned as he smashed his fist into a putty’s face.

“Uh-huh,” the stricken Ranger squeaked.

“Like, this is getting us nowhere,” the Pink Ranger declared as she took out three putties with a wide-arc kick.

“I’d be happy to entertain hypotheses!”

“Why don’t we get the Zords and squish ‘em?” the Black Ranger suggested; he was sitting atop a frustrated putty with his hands covering its eyes. So far the blinded putty had taken out three of its comrades.

“It’s a thought...” There was a flash of light from nearby, heralding the appearance of the remaining Ghostbusters.  Rather than explain, Egon chose to demonstrate the assignment to his partners, firing a narrow proton blast that melted a dozen putties into smoking puddles.  Within moments Ray, Winston and Peter followed suit, giving the Rangers a bit more breathing room. But the entire putty army had turned from its mission of destruction, heeding the orders of their master and seeking only one thing--the death of the Power Rangers and those who stood beside them.

The Red Ranger shook his head. “This does not look good...”

* * * * *

Meanwhile the Ghostbusters were having problems of their own. They’d thought themselves to be the cavalry, riding in to save the day, but within minutes of their appearance putties were approaching them from every direction. Adapting quickly, they moved into a circle, standing back-to-back and firing full power spreads into their foes.

“Geez,” Peter yelled, wrinkling his nose. “It’s starting to smell like Pittsburgh around here!”

“This is worse than DOOM II in nightmare mode!” agreed Winston.

Egon frowned. This wasn’t working as he’d hoped. Instead of backing up the Rangers, his team was in as great a danger as the kids they’d come to save. “Ray,” he called over his shoulder. “Do you have any ideas?”

“None right now,” the chunky Ghostbuster replied. “How about you?”

“I asked you first.”

“Oboy,” Peter said, glancing at Winston worriedly. “When the boy wonders are dry on brilliant solutions, you know we got trouble.”

“Hope this isn’t another ‘crossing the streams’ situation,” Zeddemore nodded.

“Frankly, I’d have preferred that to this,” Venkman noted. “At least Gozer smelled better when we toasted him...”

* * * * *

Angela wanted to scream, but she was too busy saving her breath for running. A pleasant afternoon jog to take her mind off Zack’s bizarre disappearance had turned into a wild sprint with her life as the prize. She didn’t even glance over her shoulder; she knew the putties would still be there, matching her stride for stride and closing the distance between them with every second.

Her chest heaved with every breath. She could feel the strain in her legs, but she couldn’t let up. A raspy cry escaped her dry lips as she spotted the Juice Bar in the distance. Angela could just make out Ernie’s rotund form in the doorway, shooing panicked children and teenagers in and fending putties off with his broom. He couldn’t possibly hold out forever, she realized, but still, a momentary haven was better than nothing. Angela grit her teeth and somehow managed to pick up her pace.

She could hear the putties shrieking behind her; ahead, the Juice Bar grew closer and closer, but still so far away. Angela was beyond thought, her body acting on sheer instinct as she reached inside herself for a final burst of energy to break away and reach sanctuary. She kicked her legs out with every stride, pumped her arms with grim determination, trying to eat up the final distance even faster...

She heard an odd noise from behind and turned instinctively to see what it was. She barely had time to register the leering expression of a putty before she tripped and tumbled roughly onto the pavement. Angela could not even cry out as her arms and legs skidded along the jagged surface, so exhausted was she. When she finally bounced to a stop, all she could do was lie on her back and wheeze helplessly as her pursuers encircled her, leaning forward and snickering in low, menacing tones.

 _Zack_ , she thought to herself dazedly. _I’m sorry, Zack..._

 Suddenly a wild tingle shot through her body. Angela gasped as her exhaustion instantly vanished, replaced by an incredible, almost euphoric feeling of power. With a wild cry of delight, Angela pushed herself off the ground and performed a magnificent somersault over the heads of the confused putties, then proceeded to execute a sharp series of back flips toward the Juice Bar. When one putty was foolish enough to get in her way, she did a tuck and roll, then shot her legs straight out and smashed her feet dead center in its chest. The putty screamed and shattered into a million pieces; Angela gracefully rose to her feet and with effortless ease raced into the Juice Bar. Ernie held the door open for her as she passed.

Once safe, Angela shuddered as the energy faded as quickly and unexpectedly as it had arrived; she staggered into a chair and shook her head, as if to clear it. She looked around tiredly and was stunned to see how many people were there. “Why...why haven’t the putties...?”

“Beats me,” Ernie shrugged. “But I’m not complaining. By the way, nice going,” he commented wryly as he shut the door behind them. “I didn’t realize you were such a good gymnast.”

 “I’m not, normally,” she gasped. “I don’t know what got into me.”

“Whatever it was, it was something.” The proprietor handed her a glass of ice water. “You looked like a Power Ranger out there.”

And not too far away, Rita smiled to herself before returning her attention to the battle.

* * * * *

Rita and the three former Rangers were stationed in a nearby alley. “We should be out there,” Jason pleaded with the witch. “They need our help.”

“Don’t be a fool,” Rita retorted. “Even with their powers, they’re barely holding their own. You wouldn’t have a chance.”

“We can’t just stand here and watch them get slaughtered...” Zack argued.

Rita turned around, her eyes burning. “Listen to me. The true warrior knows to wait for the right moment to strike. At the moment, we’re invisible to the enemy’s sight. If circumstances require you to join the battle, then by all means join your comrades. Until then...”

Jason gasped and pointed toward the street. “Tommy!” The White Ranger was stumbling backwards under Goldar’s relentless assault. At the moment, he was wondering if taking the monster on solo was such a good idea. Saba was blocking the blows that kept slamming down from the armored ape, but it was getting harder and harder to keep his defenses up.

“Hah!” Goldar sneered as he brought his sword down; the White Ranger parried it away, but it was close. Too close. “Where are your boasts now, White Ranger? Where are your mighty powers? Where is your all-wise, all-powerful mentor when you need him? Now you see who is the greater warrior! I will write my name in the sky with your blood!”

“Yeah, and you’ll probably spell it wrong, too!” Tommy lunged forward, slamming into Goldar and knocking the ape backwards. But he recovered almost instantly and returned the blow, sending the tired Ranger sprawling. The back of his hand hit the pavement hard, and Saba skittered out of his grip. Goldar loomed above him, laughing maliciously as he brought his sword down in a swift motion...

Goldar suddenly roared and fell to Tommy’s left as something smashed into him.  Tommy glanced up and saw Jason standing there, smiling and offering his hand. “Are you crazy, man?” Tommy cried as accepted the assist. “Get out of here, Jase! What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Saving your butt, partner,” Jason grinned. “As always.”

Goldar slowly rose to his feet, an ugly smile etched on his simian features. “Ahhh...” he chuckled ominously, nodding with satisfaction. “Red Ranger. How nice to see you again ...one last time...”

“Why? You leaving?” Jason retorted, assuming a defensive stance.

“I had hoped you’d do something stupid, like joining the battle,” Goldar growled. “Now I can kill both of you and present your bodies to Lord Zedd!”

“Big talk,” the White Ranger declared, extending his hand; Saba jumped off the ground and flew back to his grip.  “Let’s see the walk, Goldar!”

Goldar roared and attacked; Jason barely eluded the slashing blade and kicked his foe in the knee, while Tommy leaped into the air and smashed his boot into the ape monster’s face.  Goldar stumbled backwards and wiped the blood from his nose, then charged once more. Jason planted a foot in Tommy’s hands and flipped himself through the air, landing on Goldar’s shoulders. Locking his legs around his foe’s throat, Jason slammed his fists over and over into either side of Goldar’s head while Tommy slashed at the creature’s sword hand.  The sword clattered out of Goldar’s hand, and he reeled back and forth under the assault.

“Get off!” he screamed at Jason, who was hanging on for dear life.

“Jase!” Tommy yelled. “Be careful!” He raced forward and leaped; his feet smashed into Goldar’s face, breaking his nose and sending blood spurting in every direction. But the monster had managed somehow to grab hold of Jason’s arm, and with a scream of outrage he pulled the former Ranger from his perch and sent him flying into the air toward a brick wall.

“JASON!” Tommy screamed as he watched, unable to leave the staggering Goldar free for even an instant to save his friend. The wall loomed closer in Jason’s sight ...closer ...closer....

Jason abruptly found himself sitting in Scorpina’s arms, inches away from the brickwork. “Mother told you to stay with her,” she scolded.

“Sorry,” Jason replied.

She smiled as she let him down. “No apologies necessary. But for now, it is best that you leave the fighting to us.”  He nodded curtly and headed for the alley; when she was sure he was safe, Scorpina turned her attention to the reeling but still standing Goldar. “Stand back,” she ordered the White Ranger, a nasty smile on her lips. “Allow me this small pleasure.”

“After you,” Tommy said, bowing slightly.

Scorpina’s smile broadened. “Oh, Goldar!” she called sweetly; the monster’s head slowly turned in her direction. “Remember me?” she asked, lifting her sword into the air.

“Uh-oh...” Goldar muttered.

Scorpina let fly; the sword hissed as it whirled through the air and smashed into Goldar’s battered body. He fell backwards and hit the pavement hard. She caught the weapon on its return arc and sniffed derisively at her fallen foe as she picked him up one-handed. “ _This_ is for all the times you pawed at my body.” She smashed a fist into his gut and was rewarded with a whoosh. “ _This_ is for all the times you challenged my abilities as a warrior.” Her knee shot north, and the simian creature’s eyes bugged out. “And _this_ is for finding some little fool, putting my armor on her, and daring to give her my name . . .” She raised her sword in anticipation for one final strike.

“Uh, Scorpina?” Tommy interjected.

“What?” she hissed.

“I think he passed out somewhere around the second shot.”

“Oh.” There was more than a trace of regret in her voice as she let the senseless Goldar fall to the ground in a heap.

“Nice going,” the White Ranger complimented her. “Now, let’s get over and help the others--I think they’re in big trouble!”

“My beloved needs me,” Scorpina whispered, her features tightening with worry.  “Let us go now!”

* * * * *

Rita sighed and shook her head. “Teenagers. Tell them not to do something, they go right ahead and do it anyway.”

Zack and Trini had followed Jason’s lead and joined the fray. At the moment, they were carrying the stricken Aisha back to the alley; the Ghostbusters lay down covering fire and melted as many putties as they could. Jason was returning toward Rita’s position, having finally decided discretion to be the better part of valor. Scorpina and Tommy were wading through the gray battalions, swords singing as they sliced and diced a path toward their comrades.

The problem was the putties kept coming, no matter how many they managed to destroy. Rita bit her lip, considering her options, then sighed again and raised her wand.

To the Ghostbusters’ amazement, the putties abruptly stopped their relentless march--as if something had suddenly dropped between them and their target.  Gibbering angrily, they strained against the invisible barrier, to no avail.

“Egon?” Janine asked. The others glanced over at the scientist, who in turn was staring at the approaching Rita.

“I take it you have something to do with this respite,” he said.

“I might,” she agreed, her voice carrying a hint of strain. “Your weapons are needed in another area for the moment. The Rangers are being overwhelmed and need a chance to regroup.” She pointed toward a large concentration of putties, some of which were flying backwards through the air. “Over there,” she ordered. “That’s where you need to be firing.”

“But Billy and the others are over there!” Egon protested. “We can’t fire on the putties without hurting the Rangers as well!”

“I’ll take care of the Rangers--you clear an escape route for them!”  Egon hesitated, then nodded curtly and motioned to the others at the spot Rita had pointed at; his thrower screeched as it cut loose in tandem with Janine’s, firing a pair of blasts that sent the putties screaming in every other direction. Peter, Winston and Ray followed suit a moment later. Meanwhile, Rita’s eyes narrowed and her mouth moved silently as she aimed her wand in the same direction.

In the middle of the melee, the White Ranger and Scorpina had finally found their battered companions. At some point it had occurred to the Red Ranger that he wasn’t completely without weapons; he quickly summoned his power sword and lifted it high, Skywalker-style. Three putties stood directly in front of him, gibbering menacingly.

“Hey!” Rocky yelled, pointing up at the sky. “Look! The Goodyear blimp!”  The putties glanced up, following their opponent’s outstretched finger.  The Power Ranger swung his sword in a tight arc, slicing their heads off neatly.

“Suckers,” he sneered at the disintegrating putties. “Goodyear doesn’t have a blimp!”

Adam glanced over at Kim and shook his head tiredly. “You wanna tell him?”

“Maybe later. Like, assuming there _is_ a later.” She stretched out her arm and concentrated; a heartbeat later, her Power Bow was firmly in her grip, ready for action. She quickly realized that she didn’t have room to shoot arrows, so she chose to use her weapon as a bludgeon instead, with gratifying results. Adam summoned his Power Axe. Nearby, Billy was already whirling his Power Lance through the air, sending putties flying in every direction.

“Hey, Tommy, glad you could make it!” Rocky gasped as he slashed off the head of a putty who’d gotten too close.

“Like, this is worse than the after-Christmas sale at the mall!” Kim cried as she brought her bow down on another foe.

“We can’t hold out much longer!” Billy yelled.

“Mother is working on it, beloved!” At that moment the Rangers felt a massive heat wave rush past them; to their surprise the putties around them sizzled and melted into gray puddles. But not a single Ranger was so much as singed. When the energy blast had passed, the Rangers saw that they were momentarily clear.

“Let’s join the others!” Tommy ordered.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Adam muttered, running toward the Ghostbusters at full speed.

Jason was standing next to Rita. “You okay?” he asked, concerned by the weariness in her eyes.

She nodded tiredly. “In a moment. I had to protect them ...such spells can be draining.” She glanced over to where Trini and Zack were tending to Aisha. “How is she?”

“Arm’s not broken, but it hurts her to move it.” He glanced worriedly at the putties. “I don’t think she’s going to be able to fight them much longer.”

“Agreed. It’s time to finish them off.” Rita smiled as Tommy ran over to her side. “White Ranger, your friends must assemble the Power Gun.”

He glanced at the putty army, which was straining against an unseen wall, then back at Rita.  A faint sheen of sweat covered her brow. “Are you sure that’s going to be enough to stop them?” he asked uncertainly.

“Do it,” she ordered through gritted teeth. Tommy spared her one final glance, then hurried back to the other Rangers and relayed her orders to them. The Gun was quickly assembled, though Trini had to bring the Yellow Ranger’s Power Daggers over for her successor. Rocky slid his Power Sword into place and aimed. “Well,” he shrugged, “here goes nothing.”

The barrier fell just as the blast reached the putties. There was a loud sizzling at the point of impact and a foul stench in the air. When the smoke cleared, there were fewer putties than before, but still far too many ...and they were advancing.

“Uh-oh,” the Red Ranger muttered.

Ray Stantz hurried over. “Let me see that.”  He examined the Power Gun with a practiced, critical eye. “Hey, Egon!” he yelled. “If we were to boost the energy feed with our packs...”

“We’d have one hell of a weenie roast,” Peter finished. “Do it, Ray, and quick. I’ve got no desire to be trampled by these Michelin rejects.” Egon hurried over to join his fellow scientist, shucking his pack and setting it beside his partner’s. The Rangers stood around, grateful for the breather.  Billy kept stealing longing glances at the gun, but stayed at Scorpina’s side, letting her tend to his cuts and scrapes.

Kim joined Tommy and Jason at Rita’s side. “Like, you okay, guys?” she asked.

Tommy nodded. “Though I’m not sure about Rita.” The witch was gripping her wand with a white-knuckle grip, and her features were twisted with determination ...or perhaps pain.  “Rita, there’s got to be something we can do to help you...”

“No,” she gasped, shaking her head. “You need your energies for the upcoming battle. I dare not tap that...” Her legs buckled suddenly, and both Jason and Tommy lunged forward to catch her. The instant they touched her, however, Rita’s eyes snapped wide open, and she visibly improved.  “Ah ...thank you, boys,” she sighed, smiling happily. “I think that will do nicely for now.”

“Huh?” Kim asked, puzzled.

“Tantric energy, my dear. Nothing quite like it--better than coffee.” She glanced over at Jason, who blanched and quickly looked away. “At any rate, I believe I can hold the barrier up now, so long as you two keep supporting me, until the Ghostbusters have finished...”

“Got it!” Ray cried triumphantly.

“At least we believe we’ve done it,” Egon said, a bit more uncertainly.

“You mean ...you don’t know if it’ll work?” Rocky asked, his voice quavering. “I gotta fire this thing without any guarantee that I won’t turn into a pile of ashes?”

Peter grinned. “Can’t be any more dangerous than carrying an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on your back every day, kid. Trust me.”

“In theory we’ve boosted the power flow several times over with these packs,” Egon commented as he finished the final connections. “It ought to destroy the putties instantly.”

“As well as anything else in its path,” Winston said, shaking his head.

“Well ...there is that possibility,” Egon conceded. “There wasn’t time to target the blast at the putties. I never managed to obtain a fix on their PKE frequency.”

“Well, the town’s going to get trashed one way or the other,” Peter commented cheerfully. “Might as well have the good guys do it.”

Rocky reached down and gripped the Power Gun, then winced. “Problem, guys,” he said. “It’s too heavy for me to lift, with these packs attached.”

“We didn’t have the wire or the time to hook them up any other way,” Ray said sadly. “You’ll have to wear one pack, and someone will have to hold the other.”

Peter saw the Red Ranger tremble slightly and made his decision. “Want some backup, kid?” he asked Rocky, slapping the Ranger’s shoulder affectionately.

“No. I’ll do it,” Adam quickly interjected, stepping forward.

“You don’t have to do it,” Rocky assured him, but his voice was equal measures terror and gratitude.

“Hey. No problem.” Adam grabbed his fellow Ranger’s hand and gripped it tightly. “Let’s do it.”

“Agreed,” called Rita. “Rangers, Ghostbusters, to my side. I will shrink the barrier to surround our immediate vicinity.” She nodded at Adam and Rocky. “I believe I can shield you as well ...if all works according to plan.”

“Okay.” Rocky took a deep breath and hoisted the modified Power Gun up high, then joined the others around Rita.  Adam stood beside him, watching stoically as Rita’s barrier grew closer and closer. They felt a slight tingle pass through them, and now they stood outside the barrier, watching as the putty army closed in on them from all sides.

“Ready, man?” Rocky asked.

“Ready.”

“Well ...nobody lives forever, so...” Rocky pulled the trigger.

Energy flared from the Power Gun, then shot outward in every direction. Wave after wave of destructive power flowed through the city, vaporizing the putties instantly. Inside the barrier, the explosion blinded the Rangers and Ghostbusters, and Rita staggered as the energy slammed into her barrier. But the shield held, and within moments all was still outside.

Rita lowered the shield immediately, and the Rangers hurried over to where the Black and Red Rangers lay, unmoving. The Power gun and the Ghostbusters’ two packs were utterly slagged, black with scorch marks. Janine and Aisha knelt down and quickly removed the fallen Rangers’ helmets.

“They’re breathing,” Janine said in relief a moment later. “Thank God...” She tenderly brushed a few sweat-drenched strands of hair from Adam’s face.

“Rocky?” Aisha said softly. “Rocky? You okay?”

The Red Ranger’s eyes flickered open, and a tired, triumphant smile slowly spread across his features. “Smokin’...” he croaked.

“Oh, you,” the Yellow Ranger groaned, shaking her head. Her eyes were brimming with tears but her smile was bright. Around her, the other Rangers gave a collective sigh of relief.

Egon was consulting his PKE meter; Scorpina was standing beside him, peering over his shoulder. “Low level readings. That would indicate that the putties have either been destroyed or forced to retreat.” His eyes narrowed and a frown appeared on his lips. “Strange...”

Scorpina squinted at the strange little device. “What?”

“I’m picking up the Rangers, Rita, yourself ...and one other entity.” He frowned and nodded eastward. “It’s over there in the alley. Stationary.”

The warrior woman unsheathed her sword. “Let us find out what it is, then.” Scorpina led the way, with Egon following. A moment or two later they found the source of the reading--Goldar, unconscious and lying flat on his back. Scorpina poked at him with the toe of her boot once or twice, but got no response.

“I could have sworn I defeated him out on the street,” she mused.

“Then how did he get here?” Egon said, scratching his head in curiosity.

“My doing,” came a voice from behind. They turned to find Rita standing there; she knelt and caressed the simian warrior with almost material care. “Poor Goldar. Always getting himself in over his head...”

“Mother,” Scorpina said testily.

Rita looked up and glared at her daughter. “He served me well enough at the time; I could hardly reward his service with a painful death, could I?” She patted the creature’s face one last time. “There. He’ll sleep soundly and trouble us no more today.”

Jason and Tommy walked into the alley. “Adam’s awake,” the White Ranger reported, his helmet off and long dark hair streaming behind him. “Looks like he and Rocky are going to be okay.”

“Of course they will be,” Rita snapped. “I told you I’d protect them.”

“So, I guess the question is what’s next...” Tommy began, but the sudden appearance of an ominous dark shadow sliding over them made him fall silent. The group looked up as one into the sky and watched as the huge, monstrous construct known as Serpentera writhed above them.

“Summon your Zords,” Rita quietly ordered Tommy. “Now.”

* * * * *

The Command Center was enveloped in darkness, save for the small rings of emergency lights and the flickering of the control consoles. The viewing globe was blank; Zordon’s communications column was devoid of any sign of life. Silence shrouded the room.

Alpha 5 lay sprawled awkwardly across the floor, frozen stiff. Suddenly his ocular panel flickered once ...twice ...then flared into full life.  “Re-initialization routines commencing,” it announced to the empty chamber.


	16. It's All Fun and Games Until The Giant Robots Get Involved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zords and Magic PowerWands stand against the terror of Serpentera. But just as victory seems within reach...
> 
> Fortunately some old friends step in to save the day.

The Thunderzords arrived just as Serpentera began its attack.

The Rangers scattered as the terrible construct spewed a wave of fire from its vantage point in the sky; Rita managed to erect her barrier to shield the Ghostbusters and the former Rangers, but the strain was starting to tell on her. As they evaded the initial blast, the Power Rangers leaped into their Zords--Rocky into the Red Dragon, Kimberly into the Firebird, Aisha into the Griffin, Billy into the Unicorn, Adam into the Lion, and Tommy into the White Tigerzord.  Instead of merging to form the Megathunderzord, though, the Rangers attacked separately, firing their weapons at their foe from six different directions. Serpentera roared and writhed as blast after blast struck its metallic hide.

“Attaway, Tommy,” Jason shouted, clenching his fist and pumping it furiously into the air.

“It’s far too soon to start cheering,” Egon warned him; the Ghostbuster was inspecting his team’s last three packs along with Ray. “Your friends got lucky by doing the unexpected; now Zedd and Zordon will know the old tactics won’t work, and they’ll adapt their strategy appropriately.”

“So what can we do to help, o wise one?” Peter asked, glancing up nervously at the nasty-looking Zord in the sky.

“At this point, very little,” Egon replied. “I don’t think our strongest blasts will amount to more than a mosquito bite against that thing.”

“What if we fired ‘em up and crossed the streams?” Winston suggested.

“No, no, no,” Peter said with a shake of the head. “Crossing the streams is not a healthy thing for a Ghostbuster to do, remember, Zee?”

“It might work as a last resort,” Ray conceded. “But it’s hard to say if it would destroy that thing--all we might succeed in doing is wiping ourselves out, along with Angel Grove.”

“So what can we do?” Zack asked.

“Keep your eyes open and stay sharp,” Egon suggested. “There’s no telling how this battle is going to go.”

* * * * *

Tommy switched his Zord over to Warrior mode and fired a round of energy blasts at Serpentera. Zedd’s mechanoid somehow managed to writhe its way around them--but in doing so, left itself open to a secondary attack from Kim’s Firebird.  Her blasts scorched the monster’s dark metallic skin. “Way to go, Kim!” Tommy cheered; in reply she swung low by his Zord and gave him the “Arsenio” cheer through her cockpit window.

 Meanwhile, Rocky had maneuvered his Red Dragonzord above Serpentera, while Adam and Aisha had crept beneath it. Now they fired their weapons as one, hitting the Zord from three different directions. Lightning crackled and smoke gushed from its wounds as it tried desperately to get out of range of the attack.  The three Rangers continued their assault, pounding the wounded monster as Kim, Tommy and Billy joined in with their own weaponry.

“All right!” Zack grinned. “He’s going down!”

“Wait...” Trini warned. “Something’s happening...”

Suddenly Serpentera’s tail lashed out and smashed into the Red Ranger’s Dragonzord; Rocky struggled valiantly to regain control of his Zord, but it tumbled wildly end-over-end until it smacked the wing of Kimberly’s Firebird. Now Kim was also fighting to correct her Zord’s flight and keep from crashing.  And now Serpentera’s head twisted around and unleashed a series of energy bursts that slammed into the Black and Yellow Rangers’ Zords, knocking their systems offline and leaving them vulnerable.

“Uh-oh,” Adam muttered as he fought to bring his controls back up. He glanced up through his view screen and fought the urge to utter an appropriate obscenity.  Serpentera was turning around in a tight U-turn and coming toward him and Aisha, no doubt to finish them off.

“Tommy, we need some help!” Aisha screamed, clutching her throbbing arm and gritting her teeth against the pain.

The White Tigerzord moved to stand between the disabled Zords and their attacker.  Tommy fired a series of blasts at the approaching Zord, to no effect.  Serpentera’s eyes lit up bright crimson and energy crackled around its head and neck as it prepared to fire.

Suddenly the Red Dragonzord, reconfigured in Warrior Mode, fell from the sky and slammed directly onto Serpentera’s neck, knocking the construct off-balance and redirecting its deadly blast into a block of deserted warehouses. The Red Ranger pressed his attack, smashing his Zord’s fists again and again into his opponent’s metallic skin.

“Jesus, Rocky, are you nuts?” Adam screamed. “Get the hell off there before you get yourself killed!”

“Rock-and-ROLL!” came the exuberant reply as Rocky continued pounding on Serpentera. Seconds later, the White Ranger joined the fray with a mighty leap onto the monster’s back. It writhed wildly back and forth, trying to shake its tormentors off, but the Rangers somehow managed to hang on.

“Tommy, be careful!” Kim cried, then sent her Firebird screaming down from the sky, weapons blazing. Serpentera roared as the barrage smashed into its already-damaged exterior, then tried to return fire. But the sustained pounding it had taken was adding up, as the blast was pitifully weak and missed the Pink Ranger by a mile.

“We’re doing it!” Rocky whooped.

“Don’t get cocky,” Tommy warned. He activated his Zord’s power saber and plunged it into Serpentera’s back, then dropped back as a hail of sparks and power spat out from the gouge. Serpentera suddenly performed a barrel roll, effectively dislodging its attackers, then plunged awkwardly and slammed into the ground.

“Okay guys,” Tommy ordered crisply. “Bring ‘em together!”  The Rangers obeyed, instantly combining their five Zords into the Megathunderzord. “Now,” the White Ranger continued, “Take the sword and slice Serpentera’s head off! I’ll back you up.”

The Megathunderzord rumbled forward, sliding its energy samurai sword from its sheath and raising it high in anticipation. Behind it strode the White Tigerzord, its own saber ready to assist if necessary. Serpentera writhed weakly on the ground, seemingly helpless.

“Let’s do it!” cried the Rangers in unison. The sword descended...

And suddenly alarms began wailing from within both Zords. “What’s happening?” cried Aisha.

“This is impossible...” Billy stammered, staring at his control panel. “The Zords are losing power! Something’s interfering with the morphing grid ...they’re separating!”

“We’ve gotta get out--now!” Adam shouted over the klaxons. The Power Rangers ejected from the Megathunderzord just in time; seconds later, their Zords were gone, as were their uniforms.

Tommy, similarly stripped of his powers, ran over to join his bewildered companions. “What’s going on?” he demanded. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Billy admitted. “It was as though something cut off the Zords’ connection to the morphing grid ...as well as our own...” His face paled. “Alpha.”

Kim made an angry face. “That little turd,” she growled, then gasped and covered her mouth. “Oops!” she exclaimed.

“What do we do about Serpentera...” Rocky began, but a sudden shadow falling over them made the question academic. Their hearts sinking, the Rangers turned to find the evil Zord slowly rising into the air, its eyes blazing angrily as it stared down on them. The air crackled with waves of energy building up around the Zord.

“Oh, shit...” Rocky whispered.

“Got that right,” Aisha agreed, eyes wide with fear.

* * * * *

“What happened?” Egon demanded frantically, struggling against his partners’ grips as he tried to run over to the Rangers’ side. “Let me go! I’ve got to help Billy...”

“Spengs, that isn’t the brightest idea you’ve had,” Peter replied, gripping his friend’s arm tightly. “Why don’t we wait for him to come here?”

“Do you really think that thing’s going to give him the opportunity to try?” Egon retorted furiously.

Rita’s eyes narrowed as she reached out with her senses. “Something’s sabotaged the grid,” she said. “It’s disrupted the feed to their morphers...”

Scorpina gasped. “Mother!” she cried, pointing toward the battlefield. The small crowd turned to look and saw Serpentera slowly rising into the air, poised to attack the helpless Rangers. “Mother, we must act!” she demanded frantically.

Serpentera fired; the Rangers scattered, barely evading the deadly blast. They tumbled in every direction, struggling to their feet and racing toward their friends. A second blast just missed Aisha, but the aftershock was enough to send her flying roughly against the ground. She struggled to her hands and knees,  too shaken to move. Billy and Adam turned, saw their friend’s predicament, and ran toward her ...even as Serpentera prepared to fire again.

“MOTHER!” Scorpina screamed.

“Lami ...your child...” Rita pleaded.

“HE IS KILLING MY BELOVED!”

Rita shut her eyes tightly and nodded. “All right.”  She lifted her wand high into the air, then threw it hard in Scorpina’s direction. “Magic Power Wand ...MAKE MY DAUGHTER GROW!”

The wand slammed into the ground and fired a burst of energy into Scorpina; seconds later, her body grew into gigantic proportions, shifting shape into a more grotesque form that could make the bravest heart pause momentarily. She immediately threw her sword at Serpentera; it smashed the Zord directly in its face, causing a power feedback that rippled throughout its black, snakelike body. Serpentera screamed and writhed into the air, seeking the high ground for this battle.

“Quickly,” Egon ordered as he slipped one of the three remaining packs onto his back. “Let’s give them some cover fire!” Winston and Peter nodded and quickly donned the other packs; they fired as one at the screaming mechanoid, keeping it occupied with defending itself from two directions as the fallen Rangers scrambled for safety.

“Why is it all the beautiful women I meet change into monsters sooner or later?” Peter asked Winston as they kept up the full-stream barrage.

“Must be your charming personality,” Zeddemore replied, smiling grimly as he struggled to maintain his grip on the thrower. It bucked wildly as every iota of available power poured from his pack through the hose-like device. “Hey, is your thrower getting a little warm?”

“Full power blasts will do that,” Ray called. “That’s why I always wear gloves.”

“Now he tells us,” Peter groused. He abruptly switched off his thrower and nodded to Ray. “Take over here.” As soon as the transfer was complete, Venkman hurried forward to assist Billy and Adam with Aisha, who was stumbling forward as quickly as she could. Ugly red lines stretched down her bare right leg.

“Let me take a look,” he ordered. “I’m a doctor.”

“You’re a shrink,” Janine pointed out.

“Details, details.”

“I’m okay,” Aisha mumbled dazedly. “I’m okay.” As soon as the Rangers were able set her down on the ground, Trini appeared with the remains of Jason’s shirt, which he had ripped up for makeshift bandages. Jason and Zack helped the remaining Rangers reach their outpost. “How you doin’?” Jason asked Tommy.

“Been better!” He glanced back over his shoulder; Scorpina was shrieking angrily at Serpentera as she struggled to damage her foe further. “She can’t hold out for much longer, guys. Zedd and Zordon together are too much.”

“Man!” Rocky declared angrily, popping his fist into his other hand. “And we almost had ‘em, too! We were so close!”

Egon hurried over to join the Rangers. “We need to get back to the command center and restore your connections to the morphing grid,” he told Tommy as he whipped off his pack.

Billy tapped his wrist communicator and shook his head despondently. “No good. We’re being jammed. There’s no way to get there in time.” He turned and watched his lover as she struck again and again at Serpentera. “We’ve got to do something to help her, Uncle Egon!”

Janine gasped. “Egon...” He turned and followed her outstretched finger; a small rift had appeared in mid-air and was growing by the instant. He quickly glanced over at Rita, who was gritting her teeth and gripping her wand so tightly her knuckles were ghost white.

“Go,” she ordered, gasping for breath. “ I cannot hold this much longer. Go!”

“Billy, come on,” Egon said briskly. They had just about stepped through the rippling portal when Janine hurried up, wearing one of the remaining backpacks. Egon frowned and glanced over at Peter, who grinned, shrugged and gave a thumbs-up sign. The scientist spared one final look at his love’s fierce, determined features, then sighed and motioned for her to join them.

* * * * *

Alarms sang throughout the command center as Egon, Janine and Billy stepped through the other side of Rita’s portal. Alpha-5 whirled around immediately and screamed upon sight of them. As the portal popped into nothingness behind them, Janine switched her unit on and leveled the thrower in Alpha’s direction. “Make my day, Robbie.”

“Ay-yi-yi!” The robot lunged toward a set of buttons on a nearby console. Janine bit her lip and fired. The thrower, still set for full beam, spat out a violent surge of energy, which smashed into Alpha, instantly fusing and melting every circuit in his body. It tottered about wildly for a moment or two, then fell face-forward onto the floor, black smoke pouring from its joints.

“I never did like him,” Janine declared, patting her thrower affectionately.

“Come on,” Egon ordered his nephew. They hurried over to the main consoles; Egon deferred to Billy’s expertise with the equipment as the young scientist gave the readings a rapid scan. “I was afraid of this,” Billy said despondently. “Alpha has sabotaged the power grid access system. Without knowing what he did and how, there’s no way I can bring the grid and the Zords back online.”

Janine glanced nervously around the shadowy emptiness, thrower primed and gripped tightly in her hands. “Isn’t there anything you can do, Egon?”

The blond scientist was moving from console to console, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he carefully studied every dial, every meter on every machine. “Here,” he said abruptly; Billy hurried over to join his uncle, who pointed at one particular set of readings. “What’s this represent?”

Billy frowned. “It measures the readiness level of each of the Zords. But Uncle Egon, that’s not the problem! The power’s there, we’re just blocked from gaining access to it!”

“I thought there were only six Zords,” Egon commented. “This shows eleven...”

“We originally had five Zords; when we found they weren’t powerful enough to battle Lord Zedd, Zordon helped us develop a new series--the Thunderzords. And Tommy’s White Tigerzord came shortly thereafter.”

Egon turned to face his nephew. “How do you know those original Zords ...which, if what Rita told us is correct, are the original machines used by your predecessors ...aren’t enough to beat Zedd?”

“Well, we didn’t have much luck with them in our first battle...”

Janine’s eyes widened. “But if Zordon and Tin Boy here monkeyed with the power input to ‘em, wouldn’t that result in your losing?”

Egon nodded grimly. “And Zordon just happened to be able to give you a new set of Zords ...ones that he created, under his control. A new means of keeping you all in line. How convenient.”

Billy had grown pale. “I ...suppose that’s possible. I’m sorry, Uncle Egon, it’s still hard for me to accept that Zordon would manipulate us like this. We thought we were saving the world from evil...”

“You did. You still are, only now you’re seeing the true evil.” Egon looked around the empty chamber, then back at the Zord power levels. “So, this is telling us that all of the Zords are online...”

“Yes, but...” Billy began.

Egon pointed at the sabotaged console. “Did that control all of the Zords ...or just the new ones?”

“Only the Thunderzords. Alpha told me he had to reconfigure the schematics so that the increased power levels could be properly maintained...” Realization dawned upon the young scientist, and, whirling around, he hurried over to a dusty, long unused control panel. His face fell as he tried several controls. “It’s not working! Alpha must have damaged it as well...”

“Let me see.” Egon and Billy went over every inch of the panel, then flipped it open to peer into the maze of wiring beneath it. Meanwhile Janine made a slow reconnaissance around the room, pausing only when she was directly in front of the Spenglers. “Huh?” she exclaimed, spotting something lying on the floor. “Hey, Egon?”

“Can it wait, Janine?”

Wise to the ways of Spenglers, the feisty redhead didn’t get angry; instead, she simply knelt down and picked up the object. Then she waited until Billy and Egon were through poking about in the circuitry and had lowered the console panel back into place. Only then did they see her standing there, a big grin on her face and the business end of a long power cord dangling from her free hand.

“Would this help?” she smiled.

Billy grinned and shook his head. “The oldest trick in the book,” he sighed.

“Always look for the low-tech solution,” Egon agreed, taking the cord from Janine and plugging it into a floor outlet. The console flared into life; Billy pounced upon it instantly, his fingers dancing about as he hurried to bring everything online. “That did it!” he exclaimed a minute later. “We’re back online and fully accessing the Grid!”

“Are you sure?” Janine asked, peering over the edge of the console. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the fluctuating readings. “Looks pretty unstable to me.”

“It’s the best we can do for now,” Egon replied tightly. “Billy? We need to perform a validity check, if you wouldn’t mind.”

In answer, Billy reached behind him and grabbed his morpher. “Triceratops!” he yelled, and with a flash of lightning the Blue Ranger stood before them.

“Good,” Egon declared. “Billy, go back to Rita and the others. Janine and I will remain here and keep the system running as long as we can.”

The Blue Ranger nodded. “Will you be all right?”

Janine patted her thrower. “You betcha, kid.”

“Get going,” Egon warned. “You’ve got to stop Zedd and Zordon as quickly as you can. There’s no guarantee that this connection will hold.”

The Blue Ranger nodded and vanished in a halo of light.

* * * * *

Serpentera roared and smashed headlong into Scorpina. The transformed warrior shrieked in pain and fury as she tumbled backwards to the ground, flailing wildly at her opponent with her sword. The Zord writhed out of the way of the blows and undulated skyward. Then it abruptly executed a 180-degree turn and unleashed a terrible volley of fire on its fallen foe. Scorpina tried to roll out of the way, but enough of the blast caught her that she screamed a second time.

“We’ve gotta do something!” Rocky cried, his fists clenched so tightly they’d turned a deathly shade of white.

Tommy shook his head, his frustration plainly as great as his friend’s. “Without our morphers, we’re snake bait...”

“If only Billy and his uncle can fix things...” Adam began, but suddenly the Rangers gasped as one as a familiar tingle shot through their bodies. A second later, the Blue Ranger appeared in a blaze of light, standing between Egon and Janine.  “Aw-right!” Adam yelled, grabbing his morpher.

“We weren’t able to get the Thunderzords running, “ Billy cautioned as he removed his helmet. “Alpha’s sabotage was too great. We were able to bring the original Zords online, though.” He turned to see Scorpina crawl away from Serpentera’s relentless assault. “We’ve got to hurry!” he begged.

The Rangers quickly grabbed their morphers and activated them. Aisha cried out and crumpled to the ground as she changed; Adam and Rocky quickly came to her aid. Meanwhile, Tommy reached for his own morpher and called out, “Tigerzord!” And at that moment, as his uniform flickered into existence, the others’ outfits just as quickly faded out.

Kim looked down at her bare arms. “Huh?”

“What happened?” Adam demanded from his position beside Aisha.

Egon’s voice came from Billy’s communicator. “Billy, there was a massive energy drain just a moment ago. It caused a shutdown of the morphing grid; I’m trying to reset the system, but there’s not enough power to get it rebooted.”

Everyone turned to stare at the White Ranger.

“Zordon hooked Tommy up directly to the grid,” Jason said softly in realization.

“There’s not enough energy available for him and the rest of us to use,” Billy nodded.

“So what do we do?” Kimberly demanded.

In answer, Tommy shut down his morpher. “You guys are going to have to tackle Serpentera without me,” he said sadly. “Five against one is better than one-on-one.”

Jason snapped his fingers. “Wait! What about the Green Ranger coin? All you need to do is get your old coin, and you’re set, Tommy!” But to his surprise, his best friend’s face twisted into a painful grimace. “Tommy? What’s wrong?”

“The Green Ranger coin...” Tommy said reluctantly. “It’s ...gone.”

“Gone?” Jason echoed, incredulous.

“Yeah,” Kim snapped. “And before you ask, yes, we checked his gym bag. It wasn’t there.”

“It vanished just after I’d lost my powers,” Tommy explained. “And about the time I was going to tell Zordon about it, he offered me the White Ranger’s powers, and I kind of forgot...”

“Rangers,” Rita abruptly interjected. “You don’t have time for this.” She pointed over to the battle in progress, where Scorpina was slowly but surely losing ground to Serpentera.

“She’s right,” Jason nodded glumly. He placed a sympathetic hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “Sorry, man. You gotta sit this one out too. Just like us.”

“Wait...” Everyone turned toward Aisha, who was struggling into a sitting position. “ I can’t. I can’t morph. It hurts too much.”  She glanced over at Trini, who was kneeling beside her, and with a slow, pain-wracked movement, removed her morpher and handed it to her predecessor. “You’ve gotta do it, Trini.”

“I...” Trini stared for a long time at the morpher, then slowly wrapped her fingers around the device. “All right. One last time.”

Adam and Rocky glanced at each other and seemed to come to an unspoken decision; they stepped forward and handed their morphers to Zack and Jason. “Huh?” Zack declared. “What are you guys doing? There’s nothing wrong with you!”

Adam shrugged. “We’ve never used those Zords. We wouldn’t be as effective in them as you guys.”

“Besides,” Rocky said with a grin. “The Power Rangers need their leader.” He wrapped Jason’s fingers around the morpher. “You, man.”

Jason gripped the morpher, surprised at how good, how familiar it felt after all this time. “Are you guys sure?” he asked.

Adam and Rocky nodded.

“Jason,” Billy pleaded, “we have to go--now!”

The former leader of the Power Rangers nodded curtly, took a deep breath, and brought his morpher up into position.

“Okay, guys--it’s morphin’ time.”

 

 


	17. There's No School Like Old School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The original Power Rangers enter the fray. ALL of them...  
> ...but not everyone's coming back.

Jason’s heart welled up within him as he saw the Zords racing toward him. He was filled with emotions that conflicted and yet were much the same--while there was the sense of having done this so many times before, there was also the excitement of doing it for the first time.

 He glanced over at Zack, who nodded. “Here we go,” the Black Ranger said, giving his leader the “thumbs-up”. And then there was no time for talk as the Power Rangers leaped into their mighty automatons and ran their systems checks:

“Zack here--ready to rock!”

“Trini here--primed and pumped!”

“Billy--all systems fully operational!”

“Let’s kick some snake-tail!” Kim declared.

Jason grinned and shook his head. “Okay, Rangers, power up your crystals and let’s roll!” Energy crackled around the Zords as the Rangers slid their crystals into place, supercharging their vehicles with the awesome power of the Morphing Grid.

“Okay, let’s hit Serpentera the way we’d originally planned--all directions at once,” Jason ordered. “First thing is to give Scorpina some breathing room.” Kim waggled her pterodactyl’s wings to signal her okay as she screamed heavenward toward Serpentera. The snake-like Zord easily evaded the enemy attacks as it bobbed and weaved through the air. While Kim kept the monster’s attention focused on her, Trini and Billy maneuvered their Zords directly between Serpentera and Scorpina. Whenever Serpentera attempted to return its attention to its fallen foe, the Rangers opened fire, driving the monster back and allowing Kim time to resume her harassment runs.

Scorpina groaned feebly as she struggled to recover from the effects of the attack. Then she suddenly began to shrink inside, her hideous features fading away as the beautiful armored woman appeared once more. Tommy and Adam raced to her side and helped the battered warrior to her feet. She stared dazedly at Adam for the longest time as they struggled to get away from the battle in progress. “Aren’t you the Black Ranger?” she questioned him as they guided her back to Rita’s small haven.

“We gave Zack and Jason the morphers,” he informed her.

“Oh.” Winston came over with a purloined first-aid kit and began tending to her injuries. Scorpina grabbed Winston’s arm with an iron grip. “Where is my beloved?” she demanded imperiously.

“Out there,” the black Ghostbuster replied, pointing at the battle zone.

“I must ...must help...” she muttered, struggling to rise to her feet, but Winston and Adam pushed her gently back to the ground. Before she could fight them further, Rita came over and tenderly placed a hand upon her daughter’s forehead. Scorpina sighed and fell asleep.

“Thanks,” Winston said to Rita. “I wasn’t looking forward to rasslin’ with her, not after the way she fought out there.” He studied the witch’s face intently; Rita’s brow was furrowed in concentration, and her free hand was balled tightly into a fist. “Are you okay?” he asked, worried.

“I’ll be all right,” she assured him. “Tend to my daughter; I will tend to the battle.”

* * * * *

“Crosswire to B ...connection there ...and here...” Egon yelped as electricity spat from the wiring he’d been manipulating. The Ghostbuster lost his balance and fell backwards, smacking the tiled floor with a loud splat. But he smiled as he looked up and saw that the viewing globe was slowly flickering into life.

Janine was standing beside Alpha’s remains, still gripping her thrower tightly. “Egon, I’m seeing something!”

“I told you I could get it to work.” The scientist rose to his feet and clapped his hands twice, then leaned forward to peer into the hazy picture within the flickering sphere. “They got the Zords. Good. I’d better check the Grid power levels and make sure there aren’t any wild fluctuations.”

Janine winced as she saw fire spew from Serpentera toward the saber-toothed tiger, which leaped nimbly out of the way. “Do you think they can destroy that thing, Egon?”

“I don’t know, Janine.” Egon pushed his glasses up from the edge of his nose and made a few manual corrections to the Grid controls. “But they’ve got a great deal of experience between them. If they can’t defeat Zedd, I’m not sure I know who can.”

Janine shivered and leaned closer, squinting as the picture shimmered...

* * * * *

Jason stormed forward in his Tyrannosaurus, wishing that he were in the Red Dragon instead of this older model. For one thing, it had superior firepower and flight capability; for another ...well, the Dragon was just _cooler_ than this Zord.

“How are we doing, Zack?” he called to his comrade, who was hammering Serpentera at every opportunity with his Mastodon Zord. Blast after blast exploded from its twin tusks, shrieking through the air and pummeling the enemy’s armored hide again and again. Trini, Billy and Kim were keeping up their own steady barrages from their vantage points, but so far all they seemed to be doing was annoying the hell out of Zedd and Zordon.

“We’re holding our own, but sooner or later they’re going to hit back!” the Black Ranger replied.

“Maybe it’s time to switch over?”

“Works for me.”  Jason gave the signal, and the five Zords retreated back to his position. From there they activated the Megazord sequence, and within moments the individual machines merged into one mighty mechanical warrior. The Rangers regrouped within the central control area and hurried to their positions.

“Let’s get the Power Sword,” Jason declared, and despite the situation, he smiled beneath his mask, partly because he knew without looking that Zack was grinning too. Megazord’s gleaming weapon descended from the heavens and slipped easily into the giant robot’s right hand. Energy crackled across its metallic body, and thunder boomed.

“All systems fully operational,” Billy reported.

“We’ve got full power,” Kim added. “So, like, let’s skin this sucker for old times’ sake, huh, Jason?”

“You got it, Kim!”  Megazord leaped forward, blade flashing in a vicious downward arc. It smashed hard into Serpentera, leaving a gaping wound in the dark Zord. Severed energy cables hissed and spat at the air. Serpentera shrieked with agony and whirled around to attack its foe, but Megazord had already shifted position and struck again further down the snake Zord’s body. Wounded, the monster struggled to ascend out of its attacker’s reach as it had against Scorpina, but Megazord managed to swipe at the back end of the construct, and this time the sword cleaved completely through the creature, sending a section of its tail tumbling to the ground.

“Morphinominal!” Kim shrieked.

“Don’t get cocky,” Jason warned, casting a wary glance at the view screens. “It’s got the air advantage right now. Keep alert, everyone...”

Fire poured down upon Megazord from above. Trini screamed as her station panels sparked and flickered. Jason felt his own controls grow hot under his gloved hands, but he kept his grip and maneuvered Megazord out of the line of fire. But the relief was short lived, because Serpentera screamed and spat another volley of fire down upon its tormentor.

“Damn,” Zack muttered as he struggled with his controls. “What I wouldn’t give for a Zord that had a squirt gun.”

“Jason, Serpentera’s closing in for another shot, thirty degrees north,” Billy warned. The Red Ranger smiled grimly and waited until the last possible moment, then whirled the Zord around and plunged the Power Sword deep into Serpentera’s mouth. Electricity roared through both Zords for an instant, maybe two, then Megazord tumbled lifelessly onto its back, and Serpentera flopped from the sky onto the ground, its crimson eyes dull and unseeing.

“All systems are down!” Zack cried. “Energy overload! I think that one sent feedback into the Grid!” He looked down at his gloves, which seemed to flash out of existence for a moment or two, then returned to full solidity.

“Get this thing up and running!” Jason yelled. He tried to run diagnostics, but everything ...everything! ...was dead. But at least Serpentera was down...

“Oh, shit,” Kim whispered. Jason turned to see her pointing at something outside. When he looked in the direction she was aiming toward, he saw it as well.

Serpentera’s eyes were glowing.

* * * * *

“Rita, you’ve got to do something!” Tommy pleaded. “They’re going to get killed, and all you’re doing is standing here watching!” The witch woman said nothing, merely stared at the fallen warriors impassively, one hand clenched tightly into a fist, the other wrapped securely around her wand.

“Ease up, kid,” Peter Venkman advised. “She’s done quite a bit, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“Yeah,” Winston agreed. “I know it’s rough, not being able to join in the action, but you have to face facts--there’s nothing you can do.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Rita abruptly commented. She turned toward Tommy and opened her hand to reveal the Green Ranger’s Power Coin. “It’s time, Green Ranger,” she said softly. “Time for you to rejoin the battle.”

Tommy slowly took the glowing coin in his hand, unsure of whether to believe this turn of events or not. “I ...how did you get it?” he asked, turning it over and over with his fingers.

She smiled. “It’s mine by right, my dear. Remember? When you no longer needed it, it returned to me. And, as I gave it to you once before, I do so again, fully charged with my power and ready to be used ...one final time.” The last words seemed to tire her out; she leaned a bit more heavily on her wand, and a slight sadness drifted across her features.

She gazed out at the battlefield; Serpentera was slowly hovering, an inch or so off the ground. “Go,” she quietly ordered.

Tommy gazed at her for a moment or two, then carefully removed his old power coin from the morpher and replaced it with the one Rita had given him. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and cried, “DRAGONZORD!”

* * * * *

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” Kim chanted under her breath, her hands flying over her inactive control panels. The other Rangers were similarly engaged, with equal results. She smashed her fist against the dials in impotent frustration. “SHIT!”

“Chill, Kim,” Jason ordered, trying to divide his attention evenly between his control panel and the looming threat of Serpentera. “Billy, give me a status report...”

“Auto-repairs are operational,” the Blue Ranger replied as he worked. “I’d estimate another five minutes or so before we’ve reached minimal operational levels.

“Uh-uh,” Zack retorted, glancing out the main viewer. “We ain’t _got_ five minutes. We ain’t got _one_.”

“If we leave Megazord, we’re dead meat,” Jason said, biting his lip and glad that the others couldn’t see him doing it. “If we stay, we’re dead meat. Anyone got a third suggestion?”

And suddenly, a long-unheard series of musical notes thundered through the sky. A moment later, and the sequence was repeated.

 “No,” Kim and Jason whispered simultaneously as both they and the other Rangers peered out the shattered viewer for the source of the music.

He stood on the wreckage of a nearby building, his emerald uniform gleaming in the sunlight, holding his dagger to his mouth and playing that stirring series of notes once more.

“All right!” Jason yelled. “It’s Tommy!”

* * * * *

Sweat trickled down Egon’s brow as he struggled to keep the Morphing Grid online. His fingers manipulated the controls like a pianist performing the “Minute Waltz”; soft, vague mumbling slipped from his lips as he strove to maintain the link to the Power Rangers. He knew all too well what would happen should he fail.

Janine kept glancing between Egon and the viewing globe. “Egon, that snake-thing is getting back up!” she cried.

“That’s what I get for getting cocky,” the scientist muttered as he caught a sudden plunge in power levels and made the necessary corrections. “Come on, Billy, come on.... get your end back online!”

“Hey, Egon?” Janine had spotted something odd on the viewer.

“I’m rather busy right now, Janine...”

“I know, but ...didn’t someone say that there wasn’t a Green Ranger any longer?”

“That’s right. Tommy was the Green Ranger until he lost his powers.”

“Well, it looks like he found ‘em...”

* * * * *

From the depths of the ocean rose the Dragonzord, shrieking its delight at being awakened after so long a sleep. Water streamed down its shining exterior as the Zord strode purposefully toward the source of its summoning. It stormed ahead with single-minded determination, all but ignoring the devastation around it. Its master called, and as always, it obeyed.

“All right!” Tommy whooped upon spotting the Zord. “Okay, big fella, let’s give Serpentera some major-league indigestion!” He blew a new sequence upon the Dragon Dagger, and Dragonzord replied with a terrifying bellow and a volley of missiles aimed directly at its foe. Direct hit after direct hit smashed into the already-damaged Zord, sending it tumbling back to the ground, where it hit with a mighty crash.

Tommy leaped atop his Zord and slipped into its control room. “Okay, big guy, time for round two!” Dragonzord stomped ahead until it was beside the fallen opponent, then whirled around and activated its tail drill. The air reverberated with a piercing whine as the drill point dug deeper and deeper into Serpentera’s body, sending sparks and flames shooting in every direction.

“Awright, Tommy!” Jason cheered from within Megazord.

“Grid fluctuations have stabilized--we’re back online,” Billy reported.

“Okay, Rangers,” Jason ordered. “Let’s get back into this fight!” The others cheered their approval and set to work. Moments later, Megazord was back on its feet; it knelt down and pulled the Power Sword out of Serpentera with a mighty tug, then stood and resumed pounding on the writhing, screaming Zord with the weapon.

“Not exactly pretty, but it works,” Peter Venkman remarked from where he and the other observers stood.

“Man, they make one heckuva team,” Rocky sighed. Adam nodded glumly.

“Hey, you guys didn’t do too badly yourselves,” Winston reminded them. “It wasn’t your fault that Zordon zapped your Zords.” He grinned at the teenagers. “Try saying that three times fast.”

“Yeah, but...” Rocky shook his head. “We were only brought in to slow the team down. Rita was right.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” the witch interrupted. “Given time, I’m sure Zordon would have found an excuse to get rid of you, too. You were getting quite good with his Zords, you know.”

“Hey!” Adam suddenly yelped. He pointed to the battlefield. “Something’s happening with Serpentera!” As they watched, a sudden explosion drove the attacking Zords backwards, and to everyone’s horror, the evil construct suddenly soared into the air, heavily damaged but looking every bit as dangerous as before.

“Oh no,” Rita murmured, shaking her head. “No, no, no.”

“What is it?” Rocky demanded. “What’s wrong?”

“What I feared would happen, has,” Rita whispered. “Zedd and Zordon have merged with Serpentera. Every bit of their life forces, all of their essence, now resides in that Zord. It’s become more powerful than ever!”

* * * * *

“YOW!” Megazord reeled backward under a sudden onslaught of fire from Serpentera. The Rangers were blinded from the intensity of the blast, and the air inside their control room grew painfully hot, as did their controls. The Power Sword slipped from the Zord’s grasp; out of control, Megazord tumbled wildly about, limbs flailing in every direction, until it tripped and fell backwards into the bay. A gigantic cloud of steam whooshed into the air around the point of impact.

“Everyone okay?” Jason asked, checking his readings. Miraculously, the blast hadn’t done all that much damage--they’d gotten clear just in time.

“Kim’s stunned,” Zack reported, kneeling beside the unmoving Pink Ranger. “I think she hit her head on the back wall.”

“I’m all right,” Trini called out; she stood beside Billy, running damage diagnostics. “We’re still online--a little toasted, but operational.”

“Man, what happened?” Zack demanded. “We had him on the ropes!”

“I don’t know,” Jason declared angrily. “But we’ve gotta get back into the fight. We can’t leave Tommy alone against that thing!”

* * * * *

Dragonzord sent another round of missiles toward Serpentera, but this time the dark construct destroyed them long before they reached their target. Realizing that the worst possible place to be was directly in front of the monster, Tommy guided his Zord around behind his opponent and dug its fingers into a gaping hole near the tail end. To his surprise, an explosion of energy roared through Dragonzord, knocking all the systems offline and sending it crashing to the ground, helpless.

“Uh-oh,” Tommy muttered, rapidly checking his controls for any sign of life and finding none. From the corner of his eye he could see Serpentera slowly coming around for a frontal assault. “Jase, I could use a return favor about now, if it’s not a problem...”

With a mighty rumbling, Megazord returned to the battle at that moment. It stretched out its hand and summoned the Power Sword, which rose from the ground and flew once more into its master’s grip. Serpentera paused in its attack run, unsure of which foe to tackle first, the helpless one or the one still standing, and the Rangers took full advantage of the hesitation, flinging the Sword straight at the Zord’s head.

It bounced off harmlessly with a loud clang.

Undaunted, Megazord again summoned the sword; Serpentera screamed and whirled around to attack, leaving the stunned Dragonzord for later. The Power Rangers stared at the approaching monster and looked to the Red Ranger for a plan of action.

Jason swallowed and tried to think of something--anything--to save their necks.

* * * * *

Ray Stantz turned toward Winston and Peter. “Give me your packs.” They quickly complied. Next he hurried up to Adam and Aisha. “Give me those teleport bracelets,” he ordered; the teenagers took one look at his intense features and surrendered the devices immediately. The Ghostbuster accepted them with a curt nod, then trotted over to where the proton packs were sitting. He carefully wrapped each bracelet around a thrower, then punched in a set of coordinates.

Then he set each pack on “overload”, waited thirty seconds, and activated the bracelets. The packs winked out of sight, to appear instants later on Serpentera’s back.

* * * * *

The explosion was blinding, even with the protection of their helmets. The Rangers winced and turned away from the blast, bracing themselves for the worst ...yet nothing, not even the slightest breeze, struck Megazord. Nearby, Rita smiled grimly to herself and made sure the shield she’d surrounded Serpentera with was holding strong.

About a minute or two later, the smoke cleared to reveal Serpentera lying stunned on the ground, battered and wounded. But a faint glimmer in the eyes proved that the monster was not yet finished, and even now it made attempt after feeble attempt to rise again and attack its enemies.  Jason saw the movements and made his decision.

“All right, Rangers,” he barked. “We’ve got a few minutes to regroup; let’s use ‘em. I’ve got a plan.”

“Let’s hear it,” Zack said.

“Just a second.” Jason made a few adjustments to his control panel and pressed one particular button, then turned around to face his friends. Kim was still slumped over in her chair, oblivious to the drama going on around her. “You listening, Tommy?”

“You got it, partner.”

“Good. Okay, I’ve just summoned Titanus. What we’re going to do is merge everything together and form the Ultramegazord. Next, you’re all going to morph back to normal, give me your coins, and get out of here. That’ll give the Zord as much power as possible from the Grid. Then I’ll use Ultramegazord to blow Zordon, Zedd, and Serpentera to the four winds.”

“Jason, this is Egon,” came a voice from a nearby speaker. “I can probably channel the full power of the Grid to you, but I’m not sure how long the connection will hold up. When you do this, you’ll have to act quickly. In addition, someone will need to retrieve Janine and myself from the Command Center; I’m not sure it will withstand the sudden energy drain.”

“I can come get you, Uncle Egon,” Billy assured him.

“Just a second,” Trini called out. “We have a problem.” The Rangers circled around her console. “The automatic targeting systems are down,” she explained, pointing at a particular set of readings. “We can’t set the Ultramegazord to attack, then leave before it starts. Someone has to operate the weapons manually.”  She looked up at the others, each of whom was glancing warily about at the others.

Jason shrugged. “No problem. I’ll stick behind.”

“Man, I can’t let you do that,” Zack retorted. “I’ll stay with you...”

“No,” the Red Ranger said softly but firmly. “You all are going. No sense in risking all our necks. I’m leader; I’ll stay.”

“Jason...” Trini began, but Jason cut her off. “We don’t have time to debate this,” he said brusquely. “We’ve got to do it now. Tommy, let’s start the merge sequence.”

“You got it, Jase.” The Rangers watched as Dragonzord came apart before their eyes; its head, shoulders, and limbs stretched out to encircle Megazord, while its remaining pieces came together with the just-arriving Titanus.

“Okay, guys, let’s have the coins.” Jason held out his hand.

Outside, Serpentera feebly lifted its head, then dropped to the ground again with a thud.

Billy surrendered his coin first. “I’m going back to the command center and retrieve Uncle Egon,” he declared, and with a burst of blue light he was gone. Jason placed the Triceratops coin in its slot on the central console and watched the power levels slide upwards.

Serpentera made a second effort, its eyes glowing blood red. Smoke poured from its mouth as it shuddered to keep from collapsing. This time it managed to keep its head up, and with a low rumble the Zord began to work on the rest of its ravaged body.

Zack retrieved Kim’s coin just as she was coming to. “Wh-what’s going on?” she demanded fuzzily, cradling her head in her hands as her uniform faded away.

“We’re bailing,” Zack informed her. He flipped Jason the pterodactyl coin; the Red Ranger snatched it neatly and placed it into the second slot. By the time he’d turned around, the Black Ranger had removed his mastodon power coin and tossed it into the air. “Think fast,” Zack grinned as his friend’s hand shot out to grab the coin.

“Where’s Tommy?” asked Kim, slowly rising to her feet. She stumbled slightly, but Trini was there to lend an arm for support. “God, my head feels like road kill during rush hour...” Zack reached over and took Kim in his arms, pulling her close as he reached for his teleport bracelet. “Time to go, Kim. Tommy will be along in a minute.” He looked up and stared at Jason, then grinned. “Do us all a favor, Jase. Don’t stick around and be a hero, okay? Get close as you can, fire, and bug out.”

The Red Ranger nodded. “You got it.” Zack and Kim vanished in pink and black blurs.

Serpentera rose six inches from the ground, shuddering violently, but holding steady.

Jason turned to find the Yellow Ranger regarding him intently, her arms folded over her chest. “Okay, Trini,” he said as calmly as he could. “Your turn.”

Trini removed her helmet; her eyes, dark and intense, bore into his. “This is suicide, Jason.”

“I’ll be okay, Trini. Promise. Give me your coin.” He glanced out the window and saw Serpentera slowly rising from the ground. “We don’t have much time.”

“I’m not going to let you throw your life away.” If Trini was aware of the impending attack, she didn’t let on. “I know, Jason. I know what’s wrong with you.”

“Nothing is wrong with me, Trini, except you won’t give me the blasted coin!”

Trini shook her head. “Jason, it isn’t worth killing yourself over!”

“I am NOT trying to kill myself!” Jason yelled. “But if you don’t hand over the damned coin, we’re going to _both_ be toast! We’ll talk about this later, but right now, I’m telling you to hand it over and get the hell out of here!”

Serpentera was two feet from the ground; liquid fire dribbled from its mouth.

The Rangers regarded each other silently for a moment or two, then slowly, reluctantly, Trini looked down and plucked her saber-tooth tiger coin from the morpher. Her bright yellow uniform faded away as she handed the coin to her leader and friend. Then, just as he was starting to turn away, she took three steps and hugged him tightly.

“Don’t let this kill you, Jason,” she said softly. “We need you. _They_ need you.”

“I know,” Jason murmured. “I know.”

Trini wiped a tear from her eye, then pressed her teleporter and vanished. Jason popped her coin into its position, then removed his own and slapped it home. The console power levels surged into the red zone. He stared outside and regarded the hovering Serpentera for a long time, then reached for the main controls. “Well, here goes nothing...”

“Not so fast, partner.” Jason whirled around to find the Green Ranger standing there.

“Tommy,” Jason nodded, his mouth dry. Outside, Serpentera rose another foot into the air and slowly turned to face the Ultramegazord. Its eyes grew brighter as it undulated slowly, painfully toward its foe.

Tommy leaned against the doorway. “Don’t you think it’s time you left, partner?”

“Someone’s got to stay to run this thing,” Jason replied. “I’m the logical choice.”

Serpentera was thirty feet away, seven feet in the air. It spat a stream of fire toward the Zord conglomerate, but it fell far short of its target.  The reptilian Zord roared pathetically and inched itself forward.

The Green Ranger shook his helmeted head. “You aren’t morphed, Jase. When this thing cuts loose, it’ll blow sky-high. You’ll be killed. Set the controls on automatic, and let’s go.”

“Can’t,” Jason said firmly. “The Megazord’s auto-target systems are out. I have to stay and manually operate the controls.” He stared at Tommy’s bright green uniform for a long time, then swallowed. “Why don’t you give me your coin? We need every ounce of power from the Grid, you know. Kim’s looking for you.”

“My coin won’t do any good,” Tommy replied. “I’m not powered through the grid. That makes me a better choice to handle this than you.”

Jason balled his fists. “You’ve got Kim to think of!” he yelled. “She needs you, man! I...” He looked away, embarrassed and furious with himself at what was almost said.

Tommy placed a gloved hand on his friend’s shoulder and was surprised to feel Jason flinch violently. “You’re my best friend, Jase. More than a friend. From day one. You freed me from Rita’s spell, let me join you guys. We’ve fought together, worked together ...we’re partners, man. I’m not letting you throw your life away like this.”

“Just...go...man...” Jason said, choking on the words. And suddenly he saw stars flashing brightly in front of a black background, and then he saw nothing at all.

Tommy caught his friend as he collapsed from the sucker punch, then activated Jason’s teleport bracelet and stepped back as the Ranger vanished. “Sorry, man,” the Green Ranger said to the empty air. “But I’ve got the best chance of surviving this.”

He glanced up to find Serpentera no more than ten feet away, at eye level. “I hope,” he gulped as he activated the controls.

* * * * *

Klaxons wailed and the Command Center shuddered as Egon poured all available energy into the Ultramegazord. “Egon, we’ve got to get out of here!” Janine wailed over the chaotic symphony.

“I know!” The scientist made a few adjustments to the controls, then stumbled backwards as a tremor rocked the floor. At that moment, Billy appeared, and he wasted no time in drawing Janine and his uncle to him. Seconds later, all three had teleported away, leaving the command center abandoned save for Alpha-5's motionless body, which was crushed minutes later as rubble tumbled down from the ceiling.

* * * * *

Jason stirred with a low groan and slowly rolled over onto his back; his eyes opened to find sky and the worried expressions of several Rangers staring back down at him.  “Jase?” Zack said, puzzlement in his voice. “What happened?”

Memories came flooding back. “Tommy,” he replied fuzzily, stumbling to his feet and looking around frantically. His gaze finally fixed upon the Ultramegazord, which was standing firmly in front of Serpentera. The Zords regarded each other for the longest time, as though each was sizing the other up. “Tommy!” Jason repeated, reaching down toward his wrist communicator. But his sharp jabs at the teleport button met with no success.

“The Command Center’s destroyed,” Billy explained. “The relay we used is no longer functional.”  He glanced over at Egon and Janine, who were standing beside their fellow Ghostbusters, watching the showdown in progress.

“No.” This came from Kim; she gripped Jason’s arm so tightly she cut off the blood flow. “Jason, no. Don’t tell me he’s in that thing!” She looked over her shoulder toward the Ultramegazord. “Jason, he’ll die if you don’t do something!”

“I...” he began, but suddenly Serpentera bellowed a mighty challenge and stormed forward in one final, all-out attack. The Ultramegazord commenced firing, every weapon blazing and every shot focused on its foe. Serpentera screamed as strike after strike mortally wounded it, but still it roared forward toward its target for one final blow.

“Oh man,” Jason whispered, his eyes focused on the terrible sight and knowing what would happen. “Tommy ...man, get out of there while you still can...”

“His teleport won’t work either!” Trini cried.

Kimberly whirled around toward Rita, a desperate plea on her lips, but the words fell dead in her mouth as she watched Rita struggle to cast one final spell, one that would snatch her Green Ranger from the doom to come...

Rita cried out. She sank to her knees, exhausted beyond measure. The spell she had been casting dissipated.

Serpentera screamed as it closed in on the Ultramegazord, which was still firing with all guns.  With one final shriek of triumph, the dark Zord smashed into the mighty construct.

The resulting explosion was too bright to see, too loud to hear. The Rangers and Ghostbusters fell to the ground, eyes tightly shut and hands over their ears as wave upon wave of destruction radiated through the air, through the ground.

And moments later ...a terrible stillness fell upon the area, as thick and suffocating as the dust and smoke that drifted limply on the weary breeze.


	18. Crawling from the Wreckage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle is over and the fallen are recovered.

The Rangers and Ghostbusters scrambled to their feet and looked around at the devastation around them. The warehouse district, once littered with old, abandoned buildings, had been utterly leveled. Acrid smoke fluttered through the air. Grime clung to their skin and clothing. And not too far away lay the wreckage of Serpentera and the Ultramegazord; where two mighty constructs had battled now lay a massive junkyard, a mountain of jagged and melted metal.

The Ghostbusters surveyed their surroundings. “Wow,” Winston breathed. “Reminds me of Lebanon.”

Peter shook his head tiredly. “If this was a victory, I don’t wanna think about what losing would have been like.” He offered a hand to Janine, who took it gratefully as she slowly rose to her feet. Egon was trying to clean his glasses, but all he succeeded in doing was smearing the dirt around with his grimy clothing.

Scorpina had regained consciousness and was helping Rita up. “Careful,” she warned her mother. “You’re still too weak...”

“Tommy,” the witch croaked. “My Green Ranger, my beautiful Green Ranger...” Kim and Jason whirled around, staring first at Rita, then at each other. And then they were running like the wind toward the debris, the other Rangers right behind them.

“Egon...” Janine said slowly; the Ghostbuster wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. “Egon, there’s no way...”

“I know,” he said softly. “I know.”

“Help me,” Rita ordered her daughter. “I must be there when...” Her voice broke, and a heavy sob wracked her body.

“Mother, you’re exhausted...”

Rita suddenly regained her composure; only her eyes betrayed her heart. “Take me to them,” she commanded. Scorpina sighed and wrapped a supporting ...or comforting ...arm around her mother, walking slowly enough that the witch could keep up with her warrior child.  Glancing at one another, the Ghostbusters followed a moment later.

* * * * *

“What a mess,” Rocky muttered under his breath. The Rangers had broken up into search parties; he and Adam were checking where they supposed the Ultramegazord’s legs had fallen.  “This is impossible, man,” he continued softly to Adam. “There’s no way he could have...”

“Hey, he was morphed,” Adam reminded him. “And Rita was doing something right before everything went boom. Maybe she was able to shield him, or she managed to teleport out in time. This is Tommy we’re talking about, Rock. Tommy’s got more lives than a cat.”

“Hope so...” Rocky muttered, resuming his search with renewed vigor. “But I dunno about all this.”

“Rocky!” Kim’s voice rang sharp as shattered glass through the air. He glanced up guiltily at her. “Shut the hell up and keep looking!” she demanded briskly before resuming her own search in the center of the destruction. Jason, who was working with her, gave Rocky a look that was equal parts sympathy and anger, then got back to work himself.

“C’mon, man,” Adam nudged his partner. “Let’s keep going.”

Aisha had insisted on helping out despite her injured arm; while she wasn’t good for much more than poking around the remains with her feet, at least she was helping, and no one had the heart to keep her away. Nearby, Billy and Zack probed around the spot where Serpentera had collided with the other Zord.Something glittery caught Zack’s eye, and he knelt down to investigate. “Hey!” he called.

Aisha and Billy hurried over. “What is it?” the young woman asked.

“Not sure,” Zack admitted. “But I think...” His face fell slightly as he picked up the small, fused objects. “I think they’re the Power Coins.” He held them out for inspection.

Billy nodded glumly. “I’m afraid your assertion is most probably correct.”

Aisha looked away, unwilling to let anyone else see the tears that had suddenly welled in her eyes. She knew ...as the others surely had to ...that if the coins had sustained so much damage in the impact, the odds of finding Tommy alive were worse than slim ...most likely non-existent.

She looked up to find Zack staring at her. “Don’t give up,” he said quietly. “Power Rangers don’t ever give up.”

Egon and Janine came over; the scientist was scanning the remains with his PKE meter. “Looking for discrete traces,” he answered their unspoken questions.  Waving the meter over the coins, he pointed at the blank screen. “Your coins, which were powered by the Morphing Grid, are completely devoid of that particular energy frequency. Tommy’s powers came from Rita, though, so if his own coin retains any residual energy, this will enable me to determine his location.”

“Had any luck?” Zack asked hopefully; Egon shook his head, then resumed his trek around the wreckage.

Trini carefully poked and pushed and pulled back the huge, jagged shards that had once composed the Dragonzord ...she thought. It was hard to be certain. The strange thing about the whole situation was that the metal should have still been very hot to the touch, but it was cold ...cold as the grave. She shivered and forced the morbid thoughts out of her mind.

Suddenly Jason cried out; Kimberly turned around and scrambled to his side, her face frozen in a mask of fear. The other Rangers paused in their labors and watched as she raced over to where Jason knelt.  They saw Kim reach Jason, waited as she bent down beside him. They saw the look of terrible recognition fill her features, saw her hands cover her face, heard her sobbed denials as she fell into Jason’s arms.

They looked away for a moment, then stumbled through the wreckage to join their friends.

* * * * *

 It took half an hour to remove the debris that covered his body. His uniform was in tatters, scorched here and there with ugly black patches. Streaks of dried blood were etched on his exposed skin. He was sprawled out in a position that would have been impossible for a living person to duplicate. Winston, the Ghostbuster with the most medical experience, knelt beside the fallen Ranger and felt for a pulse. Moments later he looked up at Egon and shook his head tiredly.

“No,” Kim whimpered, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief. “No...”

Jason tried to offer a consoling shoulder to cry upon. “Kim,” he started, his voice broken, but without warning she whirled around and smacked his arm away. “THIS IS YOUR FAULT!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO STAY! YOU LET HIM DIE, JASON! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? HUH? HE’S DEAD AND YOU’RE NOT! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU! damn you ...” She exploded into a new round of sobs; Trini gently moved alongside her friend and held her close.

Jason glanced guiltily over at Zack, who shook his head firmly and reached out to grip his partner’s shoulder tightly.

“Ohhhhh...” The Rangers and Ghostbusters turned to find Rita slowly approaching. The witch was leaning heavily on both her wand and her daughter; Scorpina appeared to be as calm and composed as ever, but the mask slipped slightly upon sight of the Green Ranger’s body. Rita shut her eyes tightly and shook her head, looking older than ever. The others silently cleared a path for her as she made her way to the fallen warrior.

Kneeling, she reached out a trembling hand and unfastened the helmet, pulling it away to reveal Tommy’s handsome features. His eyes were closed, his expression relaxed and at peace; it was somehow disconcerting, given the violent way he’d died. “Oh, my beautiful Green Ranger,” she moaned quietly. “My lovely Ranger ...once again, I was unable to save you when it mattered most.” Tears slipped down her cheeks, falling through the air and raining down upon Tommy’s face.

Billy quietly moved over to Scorpina and wrapped an arm around her waist; she buried her face in his shoulder and trembled. Kimberly slowly pulled away from Trini and joined Rita beside Tommy’s body. Her fingers danced across his fine black hair, still pulled back and knotted behind his head.

“You could have saved him,” she quietly accused Rita, not able to look the other woman in the eye. Her gaze remained focused on her lover.

“I tried,” the witch sighed tiredly. “Oh, Kimberly, I tried. But I had nothing left ...I gave him what protection I could. It was all I could do ...and not nearly enough.”

“I know,” Kim started to say, but her voice cracked, and once more the tears started falling. Rita reached out to embrace the heartbroken girl, holding her tightly and ignoring her own tears. Aisha found herself embracing Rocky and Adam tightly, lost in her own grief but finding some comfort with her old friends. Zack remained beside Jason, who simply stood there stone still, staring at his fallen friend and saying nothing ...until Kim suddenly turned around and held out her hand to him. “Jase,” she gasped through her tears. “Jase, I’m sorry.”

Then he was beside her, hugging her for dear life and squeezing his eyes so tightly shut that no tears could break free.

Nearby, Egon was standing with the other Ghostbusters, his PKE meter at his side. He’d forgotten to switch it off, and now its sudden squawk shattered the silence. Blushing at the resulting pointed glares coming his way, he muttered an apology and lifted it up to switch it off. Out of habit, though, he gave the readings a quick glance before shutting it down.

Egon blanched slightly.

Janine frowned and drew closer to him. “What was it, Egon?” she whispered.

“Nothing,” he said, but his voice was filled with uncertainty. “Nothing I want to get into just now.”

The redhead quickly reached her own conclusions. “It’s Tommy, isn’t it?” she said softly. “He’s still here.”

Egon closed his eyes. “It’s a definite possibility. Sudden, violent death ...possible unresolved situations in his life ...it certainly meets the qualifications for a spirit manifestation. But it’s a weak manifestation. He probably won’t stay too much longer. He’ll soon leave for his next destination.”

The Ghostbuster had spoken so softly, he’d thought only Janine could hear him, but Rita’s head snapped around in his direction. “What did you say?” she demanded, the steel and fire back in her voice.

“Uhhh ...nothing,” Egon stammered.

 ** _“What did you say?”_** Rita repeated imperiously, her features growing taut with anger.

“Rita, this isn’t a good time,” Egon pleaded, but when he noticed Rita’s right hand glowing, he decided that discretion was the better part of valor. “I ...may have detected ...a ...spirit ...in the vicinity.  That’s all.”

Kim looked up. “It’s Tommy, isn’t it?” She stared into the sky. “Tommy, dammit, get your butt back in here this instant!”

“It doesn’t work that way, my dear,” Rita replied, a smile growing upon her lips. “Not normally, anyway.”

Scorpina stared at her mother, incredulous. “Mother ...no. I know what you’re thinking ...you can’t. You don’t have enough power. It could kill you!”

“Hush, dear. I’ve heard it all before.”

“Do you remember what happened the last time? Do you want to do to Tommy what you did to Zordon?”

“That was different, daughter,” Rita said in dismissal. “I was younger, less controlled. And pregnant with you. Things have changed.” She turned to smile at Kim, whose face was dawning with realization ...and the faintest glimmer of hope.

“Can you?” she whispered. “Can you?”

Rita sighed. “I don’t know, my dear. It won’t be easy, and I cannot do it alone. But I must try ...for you, for Jason, and most of all, for my Green Ranger.”  She slowly rose to her feet, leaning heavily on her wand and grunting from the effort. “Rangers. Circle around Tommy, all of you. Hurry. We don’t have much time.” Mystified, the teenagers nonetheless complied. “Good, good,” Rita murmured, then she saw Scorpina drawing near and stiffened. “No, daughter. I forbid it.”

“Mother--”

“No.” Rita shook her head firmly. “This spell will be taxing enough on those in the circle. I will not endanger the life of the little one inside you any more than I already have.” Scorpina opened her mouth to protest, but Rita’s hard gaze shut her up. Reluctantly, she withdrew, joining the Ghostbusters a short distance away.

“Very well.” She surveyed the circle of Rangers, then shook her head. “No, no. Kimberly, Jason--you stand on either side of me, here and here--” she pointed to the area between herself and Tommy’s body.

“All right,” Kim said uncertainly. “But why?”

“You two are the focal points. You are both bound to Tommy’s soul--it’s why he tarries here. Through you, we can draw his spirit back into his body and rejoin them.  Your love for him will provide focus for the spell as well, boosting its power to heal the body and help him live again. But we must hurry.”  She saw Jason blush furiously and look away, embarrassed. “This is no time for lies, Red Ranger. If you love him, you will accept your feelings and help me. The slightest doubt, the slightest denial, could render the spell useless.”

Jason swallowed and slowly turned to meet Rita’s stare. “All right,” he whispered.

“Then we begin...” The Rangers joined hands and were surprised to feel an icy tingle shoot through them. Rita closed her eyes and began to chant in an eerie, inhuman voice, the syllables reverberating through the air. Rocky and Trini, who stood on either side of the witch, shuddered violently and stiffened, their eyes growing wide and vacant. Their free hands slowly stretched forth in obedience to Rita’s unspoken command until they touched her shoulders; her wand, gripped tightly in her hands, flared into brilliant, blinding light.

Rita’s chant grew stronger, her voice husky, almost sexual as the power built up in her. A halo of power flared around the circle of Rangers, growing brighter by the moment. From where she stood, Scorpina watched fearfully, her lips moving in a soundless prayer to any deities who might be listening.

“What’s she doing?” Janine asked softly, her eyes transfixed on the ritual.

“She has bound their life forces together,” Scorpina whispered. “As the energies flow through them, they feed upon each other, growing stronger. When there is a sufficient amount, Mother will release some of the power through Kimberly and Jason, into Tommy...”

Peter shivered. “And what if she doesn’t hit the right amount?”

“Then they will all die.” Scorpina wrapped her arms around herself; Peter took his uniform off and wrapped it around her shoulders, grateful that he hadn’t taken the time to undress before getting into his gear. She accepted the gift with a grateful glance and smile.

“Didn’t she say she’d tried this before, with Zordon?” Janine asked worriedly. “And failed?”

“In a fashion. She was able to multiply the power of her life force ...and mine, of course ...but it was only enough to heal the body, not bind the spirit back into the flesh. And the backlash drove her mad.” Tears clouded the warrior-woman’s vision. “This time she has sufficient power, but she is older and rusty with inexperience. I don’t know if she can do it...”

The halo had grown so bright that the Rangers were lost from view. Inside, Rita shuddered as the energy rippled through her, caressing her essence like a lover. But she remained focused, continued her chant as she slowly extended her wand before her toward Kimberly and Jason. The two Rangers were kneeling, touching Tommy’s still body with one hand while reaching for the wand with the other. The instant contact was made, the power surged forward to envelop their bodies, then flooded the body of the Green Ranger.

In that moment, the Rangers became one, each of them knowing the fears, the hopes and the dreams of the others. In that brief time, there was no shame, no guilt, only acceptance ...and love. Rita harnessed that love and focused it tightly. She stretched out with her soul and saw Tommy’s spirit standing nearby, confused and uncertain. Smiling, she beckoned him forward, reaching out with the love of his friends and providing him with a line to cling to; slowly, surely, his soul took hold of the line and grasped it tightly, allowing Rita to draw him closer, ever closer, to her and his friends.

Rita drew his soul to hers and kissed him tenderly, then gently focused the power line down toward his body. Tommy hesitated for a moment, unsure. Suddenly two new souls came forward, arms outstretched, and he eagerly lunged forward to embrace them. Rita smiled, nodding to herself as she watched them gently place his spirit back into his body.

There was a tremendous, silent explosion of white light emanating from the circle. When the Ghostbusters’ vision had returned, they hurried with Scorpina to where the Rangers lay, flat on their backs and utterly dazzled. At the summit of the ring Rita sat, panting heavily and clutching her wand like an anchor.

“Mother?” Scorpina cried, rushing to her side.

Rita smiled, a smile so bright and wondrous that it was almost too much to bear. “Hoo-eee,” she breathed. “Can I cook, or can I cook?”

“Kids?” Janine asked, kneeling down beside Rocky and Aisha. “You guys okay?”

“Oh, yeah,” Rocky nodded absently, grinning broadly. “I feel great!”

“Yeah,” Aisha agreed happily. She looked at Rocky and Adam, then lunged forward to embrace them tightly, her arm forgotten momentarily. “I love you guys, you know that?”

The other Rangers were stirring from their reveries, ending up in similar embraces. Only Kim and Jason remained still, their chests rising and falling, but their gazes vacant and expressions blank.  Winston gave them a quick once over. “They’re alive,” he said, shaking his head, “but it’s like they’re not really here.”

“It’ll pass,” Rita assured him. She pressed a hand against Scorpina’s belly and smiled. “A daughter, and with the power, no less. Very nice, Lami, very nice. Then again, he _is_ a Spengler. Comes with the territory, I suppose.”

“Mother,” Scorpina whispered, her eyes locked on Tommy’s body. “Did it work?”

As if in reply, Kimberly and Jason slowly stirred, turning to face Tommy.

Tommy’s fingers twitched.

His chest rose, then fell, then rose again.

His eyes slowly flickered open.

He rolled over to face his two best friends, who were smiling and crying all at once.

And then he opened his mouth:

“Did we win?”


	19. Happy Endings and New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things return to normal...well, as normal as they ever get anyway. And one final little mystery is resolved.

“Dr. Venkman, I don’t know what you’re so upset about.” Janine shut the faucet off and briskly walked over to the coffee maker, pouring the water into the machine and setting the container in place. “I thought it was very nice of Rita to open up that space/time portal so we didn’t have to buy extra plane tickets home. And think of all the money we saved, not having to ship Egon’s equipment back!”

“Janine,” Peter said to his receptionist, who had returned to her desk and was now filing her nails. “I do appreciate what Rita did for us. I am grateful beyond measure that she zapped you, Egon and his toys back here. But in case it’s escaped your notice, we’re now out four packs. Do you have any idea how much it costs to replace those things?”

“Hmmm.” Janine pretended to ponder the question, then whipped out an envelope from her purse. “About this much?” She waited for Peter to rip the envelope open and study the contents, then smiled as the expected gasp of astonishment whooshed out of her boss. “Thought so,” she nodded, examining her left hand critically.

“Where ...where did Rita get that much money?” Peter wheezed, his hands trembling.

“Oh, that’s the funny thing. After the big battle, most of Angel Grove was in really bad shape, so she borrowed some money from Scorpina--nice thing about being a demi-goddess, you can really clean up on long-term investments, y’know?--and picked up some primo real estate for a song. Then she sold it to some of the fast-food joints, department stores ...I think she even nailed a Wal-mart for the town. She’s really good at financial wizardry, let me tell you!”

“I bet,” Peter nodded.

“Oh, and she also bought the two return trip tickets from us. Said she could use them, and knew you’d appreciate the money. Classy lady.” Janine started sorting the mail, which had been piling up quite a bit in her absence. “I’d keep an eye out for her in the Wall Street Journal, if I were you.”

Peter snorted. “Oh yeah. ‘Rita Repulsa, the Witch of Wall Street’. Has a real zing to it.”

“Actually, she’s going by the name Machiko Soga these days.” Janine handed Peter his mail, then got up to place the others’ letters and magazines in their baskets. “She liked the name Scorpina had been using so much, and since she was technically Piniko’s mother...”

“That reminds me. How did Billy’s parents react to the big news?” Peter poured himself a cup of coffee and returned to the desk, where Janine was now calling up the accounts receivable program on her computer.

“Oh, not too bad, after the initial shock was over. I mean, really and truly, what could they say? Billy’s obviously in love with her, she’s really very sweet and charming when she wants to be, and she’s got money out the wazoo, so that’s not a problem ...Billy agreed not to get married until after graduation next year, then they’re going to live in Boston while he attends M.I.T. They’ve already offered him a full scholarship, you know.” Janine was clearly proud of her hopefully future nephew-in-law. “So I gave Scorpina Mr. Corey’s phone number--you know, the guy from the Banzai Institute who lives up there? He owns a couple of rehabbed brownstones around Cambridge, and I’m sure he’d be happy to sell one to them.”

“Happily ever after, huh?”

“That’s the only way any story should end,” Janine said firmly. Peter glanced up at the sound of the front door opening; a lovely young woman with dark skin and sleek ebony hair had just come in, and was walking toward the desk. Something about her set off his internal alarms, though, and after a quick second inspection he realized why--cop. The bulge under her jacket was barely noticeable ...unless you were used to working with the police.

Janine turned her attention to the visitor, smiling warmly. “Can I help you?”

Peter wasn’t surprised when she pulled a badge out of her jacket. “Elisa Maza, Detective, NYPD. I was wondering if Dr. Stantz was available?”

“I’m pretty sure he is,” Janine said. “May I ask what this is about?”

Maza looked hesitant. “Well ...I’ve got some ...friends ...who saw some messages he left on a computer network ...and they asked me to talk to him...”

“Sure. No problem. I’ll buzz him.” Janine reached over for the intercom; Peter, meanwhile, favored the detective with his most charming smile. “Good luck talking to Ray,” he cautioned teasingly. “He tends to get obsessed with things from time to time, and right now, unless you’re going to tell him about gargoyles flying around New York City at night, you won’t get much out of him.”

“Heh. Gargoyles. Imagine that,” Maza said, looking a bit sick to her stomach.

* * * * *

“Now, this will be the dojo’s main function room, and we’ll have locker rooms here and here.” Machiko Soga, also known as Bandora, also known as Rita Repulsa, pointed at several boxes on the blueprints she had spread out across the table. Tommy stood beside her, trying to take everything in, but to be honest, he was still overwhelmed by everything she had said so far.

They’d commandeered a table at the Youth Center, oblivious to all the activity going on around them. Angel Grove had recovered remarkably well to the devastation brought by the terrible battle. Buildings and houses were flying up from the ground, and the new businesses were booming. It was as if a wave of good fortune had swept through the town.

“Your office will be here. Complete facilities, of course. And we’ll put a few other offices here for a receptionist and a bookkeeper--you might encourage Kim to take that up. I think she’d be quite good at it.” Rita flashed him a bright smile and patted him maternally on the shoulder. “What do you think?”

Dazed, Tommy shook his head. “Rita, I don’t know what to think. I mean ...a dojo of my own ...that’s a heckuva lot of responsibility!”

“Well, keep in mind it’s not yours yet, technically. I’ll own it and run it, setting aside a bit of your salary each month to go toward buying me out, and a little for investing. But it will eventually be yours.”

Tommy smiled and looked deliciously bashful. “Rita, I just don’t understand why you’re doing all this for me, that’s all.”

She reached up and stroked his cheek tenderly. “Because you’re my Green Ranger. That’s why.”

He shrugged ruefully. “Not any more, I’m afraid.”

“You will always be my Green Ranger, Tommy. Always.” She smiled again and pulled a second sheet of blueprints out from under the first. “Now then. This is the second floor. Your living quarters. All the amenities you’ll need, for yourself, your wife ...and your children.” She glanced up and winked at him, and was rewarded with a deep blush.

“Oh, that won’t be for a while,” he retorted.

“That’s what they all say, my dear.”  Rita and Tommy looked up across the room, where Adam and Rocky were instructing a group of lovely young women in self-defense. Or that was the idea. Mostly the class consisted of the girls giggling and ogling the teachers, and the teachers doing their level best to be thrown and pinned to the mat by their students. A good time was being had by all.

“I hope I can find some better teachers than them,” he said with a grin.

“You hire them, you’ll have no shortage of students, believe me,” Rita replied. “So, where’s Kimberly?”

“She said something about having to pick some stuff up for her new job,” Tommy replied. “And she had to meet someone at the airport. I don’t know--she never tells me anything.”

“And Jason?”

Tommy frowned. “I don’t know. I keep trying to talk to him, but . . .” He shook his head. “Rita, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was trying to avoid me.”

 Just then Ernie walked up to them, a huge shake and a cup of tea on a tray. “I thought you might like something,” he said, smiling.

“Thanks, Ernie,” Tommy said as he slurped down a huge gulp. Then he frowned; there was something odd going on between Rita and the chubby owner of the youth center.

“My favorite blend of tea,” Rita said, a small smile curving her lips. “I’m flattered you remember, innkeeper.”

He nodded in acknowledgement. “It’s been some time, my lady. But I never forget a customer.”

“Uhhh ...you guys know each other?” Tommy asked pointedly.

“Oh yes,” Rita nodded, the grin broadening. “From a long time back. Ten thousand years back, give or take a century.”

“I’m flattered you remember me, Bandora,” Ernie replied.

“Ernesto here came to Japan and opened the most wonderful establishment--the people flocked in droves to his place, in hopes of somehow getting in and being blessed with his matchless hospitality.” Rita sipped her tea and savored the taste. “I’m pleased to see that some things never change, my friend.”

Tommy was really trying hard not to gape, but he was losing the battle. “Are you telling me that Ernie’s immortal?”

Ernie winced. “I hate that word. I really do.”

“It takes a long time before someone earns the right to be called immortal, my dear,” Rita explained. “Ernie’s been around for quite some time, yes. But all that means is that he hasn’t found anything that’s killed him yet.” She glanced slyly at her old friend. “I’m surprised Dr. Spengler didn’t flush you out, Ernesto.”

“Oh, he almost did,” Ernie replied, wiping some imaginary sweat from his brow. “Thought I was going to wet my pants when that meter of his went off in my direction. Fortunately you and Jason distracted him and got him off my scent.”

“Right. So, uh, Ernie,” Tommy cut in, anxious to change the topic of conversation. “You worried about that new McDonalds opening up down the street?”

“Nah, not really,” Ernie replied with a shrug. “I’ve been here a long time--kids like coming here, to eat, to work out, to watch one another--” There was a long ring of laughter; they looked over to find Adam securely held down by three lovely young women who clearly had no intention of letting him up for awhile. “It’s a neat place for kids to come to,” Ernie added. “I’ll be okay.”

Just then Bulk and Skull came stumbling into the juice bar. They were wearing ill-fitting McDonalds uniforms, right down to the paper hats, and their faces were buried in their orientation manuals as they struggled to perfect their litany: “Can I take your order?” “For here or to go?” “Can I Super-Size that?” “You want fries with that?”

“And besides,” Ernie concluded with a shrug. “I have higher hiring standards.”

* * * * *

To her credit, Angela listened to every word Zack had to say without interrupting. When he’d finally finished, she stretched out along the blanket they’d laid out and stared up into the warm, sunny afternoon sky. “So that’s your story,” she said.

“Yup,” he nodded. “And I’m stickin’ to it. Every word.”

She looked at him carefully, studying his features. “You were the Black Ranger.”

He nodded again. “One of them, anyway. Kind of appropriate, I always thought,” he added with a grin.

“You know,” Angela noted, “if I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were telling the truth.” She reached over and grabbed a chicken breast from the bucket they’d brought along and took a bite. “Yuck,” she said, making a face. “Your mother’s stuff is much better.”

“Uhh, that is mom’s chicken,” Zack pointed out. “We had an empty bucket left over.”

“She let you eat food she hadn’t prepared?” Angela sounded utterly incredulous.

“Hey, it was her bowling night, and Dad didn’t feel like cooking.” Zack shrugged and smiled hopefully. “So ...what do you think?”

Angela waited a while before answering. “Well, it explains a lot of things, such as your sudden absences and lame excuses,” she said slowly. “But ...what are you going to do now?”

Zack stared out across the field; kids were playing frisbee, rollerblading along the paths, jogging, flying kites ...normal things, things he’d done himself before that fateful day he’d been brought into the Command Center. “I don’t know,” he finally replied. “Still gotta graduate, of course. Probably go to college, decide what I want to do with the rest of my life.”

“That could be pretty difficult,” Angela pointed out. “When you’ve gone out and saved the world a few times a week, it kind of makes a 9-to-5 job pretty mundane in comparison.”

Zack chuckled. “Yeah, I guess it does.” He turned suddenly so that he could look into her dark, beautiful eyes. “But I’ll tell you one thing I’d like.”

She smiled and drew just a bit closer. “What’s that?”

“Well ...I’d really like for you to come along and help me find the answers to those questions.”

“Funny.” Angela kissed him softly on the lips. “I was hoping you’d say that...”

* * * * *

Somehow, Trini wasn’t surprised to find Aisha waiting for her on the front steps.  The dark-skinned girl was busy squeezing her ever-present rubber ball in her left hand; with her right hand she waved and grinned cheerfully as Trini’s mother parked the car, then waited until she was alone with her fellow ex-Ranger before speaking. “So, how’d it go?”

Trini shrugged. “I don’t know. Okay, I guess. The doctor recommended a psychologist, and did her best to keep my mother from freaking out.” She smiled ruefully. “She found it hard to believe that her ‘perfect little girl’ might be screwed up in the head.”

“You aren’t screwed up,” Aisha declared firmly. “You have a problem, that’s all. No shame in that. And you’re getting help for it. No shame in admitting you need help.”

“Maybe. I just sometimes...” Trini sighed. “Sometimes I wish that things were still like they were. It was so much simpler, so much easier, than now. ”

“Can’t go back, girl. Only forward.” Aisha paused in her ball-squeezing long enough to give the sphere a hard bounce on the front walk; she snatched the ball on its return with her left hand, wincing a bit as her fingers tightened around it.

“How are you doing?” Trini asked.

“Oh, better,” Aisha conceded cheerfully. “You would not _believe_ the two docs from the Banzai Institute who checked me out. Midnight and New Jersey themselves.” She sighed wistfully. “I hope I never completely recover, just so I can have those two give me complete physicals. Mmm-mmm!”

Trini smiled and shook her head. “You’re impossible.”

“I try.” Aisha rose to her feet. “Now, what do you say we head over to Ernie’s and see what’s going on? If we act pitiful and pained enough, we ought to be able to con Adam and Rocky into paying for a couple of fruit shakes.”

Trini frowned. “I’ve got money, Aisha.”

“That’s not the point, girl!” Aisha shook her head in mock despondency, then her face brightened. “Okay, how about this--I con Adam and Rocky, and you can con Ritchie ...I think he’s working there today.”

“I ...think that’s a bit more acceptable,” Trini said slowly, a smile of her own finally breaking free.

* * * * *

Jason checked his luggage in at the ticket counter, then started toward the boarding gate. But something made him pause in front of the window that looked out over Angel Grove; he stood there for a few minutes, staring at his hometown as if he could somehow burn the image into his memory. It bordered on the miraculous, how quickly the city had recovered from that awful attack. If only he could recover as quickly from everything that had led up to that day...

He sighed and turned away, clutching his tote bag with one hand and striding purposefully toward the gate. He passed through the security screen with no problems--strange how that hadn’t been there last time--and started mentally counting off the gate numbers as he passed them. His pace picked up with every step, as if it could somehow get him away from Angel Grove any faster. He found Gate Eighteen and gave the waiting area a quick glance--good, none of them were around. He was going to get out of here without any fuss at all.

“A-hem.”

 Jason’s heart sank at the sound of that voice, the voice he knew all too well. Turning around, he found Kimberly standing along the opposite wall, tapping her foot expectantly. She was dressed in a professional-looking pink jacket, matching skirt, and white blouse. A bright pink briefcase was sitting beside her. Her arms were folded over her chest, and she had _that_ look on her face, the one he’d seen aimed at Tommy so many times when he’d said or done something he shouldn’t have, or worse, not said or done something he should have.  It was a look calculated to send the recipient down on his knees begging for mercy. And it was aimed straight at him.

“Nice try,” Kim said.

“Uhh, hi.” Jason realized it had been foolish to hope for a quick, quiet getaway; he should have known that Kim would have either found out or anticipated him. “So ...what are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you.” She picked up her briefcase and walked over to where he stood. “What are _you_ doing here?”

Jason smiled weakly. “I guess you didn’t hear. Ms. Melnitz called her cousin--she’s a nurse at the Banzai Institute--and she got me an interview. They’ve offered me a summer internship as a martial arts instructor.”

“No. I hadn’t heard. That’s very nice.” You could all but taste the anger seething just under her voice. “Pity you didn’t bother to _tell_ any of us about it. We could have given you a really neat party to send you off.”

“It’s no big deal,” Jason rushed out. “I mean, I’ll be back in the fall...”

Kim shook her head sadly. “No, you won’t.”

“Of course I will...”

She puffed a strand of hair off her face in exasperation. “No. You’ll find some excuse to stay out there. Like, I’m sure you can finish your senior year there, and then they’ll offer you the post full-time while you go to college, and then you’ll become one of those King Kong Cavaliers or whatever they’re called...” Hurt filled her eyes. “This really sucks, Jason. I thought we were friends.”

“Kim, we _are_ friends...”

She jabbed a finger into his chest. “Friends don’t pull crappy stunts like this, Jason. They don’t sneak off and leave everyone wondering what they did to make someone act like that. Don’t you care how this is going to hurt all of us ...how it’s going to hurt Tommy?” He cringed involuntarily at the sound of Tommy’s name, and Kim pounced on it like a ravenous tigress. “For God’s sake, Jason, why don’t you just come out and admit it?”

“Admit what?” he snapped.

“That you’re in love with Tommy!” Kim’s hand shot to her mouth the instant the words tumbled out, and she looked around quickly to see if anyone had heard. Fortunately the area was pretty much deserted ...but from the agonized expression on Jason’s face, one too many people had heard her. “Jase ...I’m sorry.”

“No,” he whispered. He looked away frantically. “No.”

“Jase...” Kim let her briefcase fall to the floor and wrapped her arms around her trembling friend. “Jase, it’s okay. Really. I understand.” She tried to smile. “Like, I ought to, y’know?” He was still shaking his head furiously, as if it could take the words away. “Jason, I’m sorry ...please, talk to me?”

“How...” The words were choked. “How did you know?”

Kim looked around, spotted some empty chairs, and guided Jason to them. “I ...think I’ve always known, to be honest. I mean, you guys were, like, this!” She wrapped two fingers around each other. “And when he left after he lost his powers, you were so ...so lost without him around ...I just kind of thought that, like, maybe he meant as much to you as he did ...he does ...to me.”

Jason’s head sank down into his chest. Kim wrapped her arms around him, pressing her head against his. “And when we were in that weird thing with Rita,” she continued softly, so that only he could hear, “I ...I don’t know, it was like I, well, touched your soul or something, and then ...I knew.”

“I don’t know what I feel, Kim,” Jason sobbed into his chest. “I don’t like this, I don’t want to feel this way...”

“It’s okay,” she told him, kissing his hair and stroking it maternally. “There’s nothing wrong with loving someone, Jason. I mean, like, so what if you love a guy? It’s no big deal...”

“It is to me,” he groaned. “It’s ...wrong....”

“Like, that’s bull. Love can’t be wrong, Jason. Geez, where did you come off with that? Parochial school or something?” Despite his turbulent emotions, Jason actually chuckled at that. Kim took it as encouragement and went on: “Jase, why don’t you stay a few more days and talk to Tommy--really talk to him? Tell him how you feel?”

His head shot up; he stared at her, red-eyed and horrified. “I can’t tell him that!”

“Why not?” she demanded. “What do you think he’ll do, punch you out?”

“Maybe,” he conceded with a rueful snort. “Or laugh at me.”

“You might be surprised, Jason. Tommy really thinks a lot of you, and he’s not nearly as dense as everyone thinks. But Jase ...you’ve got to face up to this and resolve it. Otherwise it’s going to sit inside you and eat at your guts, and you’re going to be miserable for the rest of your life.”

He looked at her for a long time. “Considering we’re talking about your boyfriend, you’re taking this awfully well.”

She grinned and shrugged. “Hey, like it’s not hard for me to understand how you feel, y’know? Besides, like I said, he might surprise you and invite you over some night and...” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively. “Sleazy threezies, y’know?”

“KIM!”

She grinned naughtily. “Hey, I sure wouldn’t mind...”  Jason shook his head, but he was smiling again, and that was her goal ...well, partly. One had to do a little seed-planting every so often...”Jase, please stay another day or two. I know damned well you don’t have to be there for another week.” At his questioning look, she smiled. “Rita. Biggest blabbermouth around.”

Jason took a deep breath, let it out, took another, let it out. “I can’t,” he finally said softly. “I ...Kim, I need some time away. I have to get my head together about everything, including this. I can’t think things through here, not with him here. I’m sorry.”

“He’s going to be really hurt that you left like this, without saying good-bye.”

“I know, but I don’t think I can look him in the eye and lie like I did to you.”

“No kidding,” she snorted. “You never could fib, you know.” She sighed and gave him one last hug, then rose briskly to her feet. “Well, I guess I’ll have to let you go,” she said with forced cheerfulness. “I’ve got to get started on my new job.”

“Oh?” She proudly turned her briefcase around so Jason could see the lettering. “Oh, Kim,” he chuckled, shaking his head in dismay. “Mary Kay cosmetics?”

“Why not?” she demanded. “I’ll have you know they think I can be a star salesperson. And I will be.” She grinned and leaned closer to him. “I’m gonna win me one of those pink Caddies, wait and see.”

“I don’t doubt it,” he conceded, smiling. Then he gasped as she leaped into his arms and hugged him for dear life. “Come back soon,” she pleaded softly as she kissed him on the cheek. “Please.”

“I will,” he promised, surprised at how he truly meant it.

“You’d better,” she warned, waggling a finger at him. “Tommy’s already decided you’re going to be Best Man.”  She hugged him one last time. “Take care, Jason. I mean it. Call if you want to talk. I love you. _We_ love you.” And there was no doubt who she meant by “we”.

“I will, Kim.” She hugged him one last time, then picked up her case and walked off, pausing only at the security gate to turn and wave. Jason watched her vanish through the door, then sighed, flopped down into the nearest chair, and waited for his flight to be called.

* * * * *

To his surprise, he managed to get a window seat, the one that was positioned next to the right wing emergency exit. He had no way of knowing that this was Dr. Spengler’s preferred position, the better, so he claimed, “to make sure nothing might be chewing on anything important during the flight”. He watched the ground crews scurry about below and tried not to think about his family, his friends, Kim or Tommy, or the fact that he might never see any of them ever again.

“You’ll come back eventually.” Jason whirled around to find Rita sitting beside him, placidly playing a game of Solitaire on her laptop. She was dressed in an impeccable yet strangely sexy power blue suit, her silver hair professionally trimmed into a striking style. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember hearing her sit down. But there she was, smiling enigmatically to herself.

As she moved her trackball smoothly about the screen, her eyes riveted on the game, she spoke again: “You’ll return. You have to. You are bound to them, just as they are bound to you. And,” she added as she moved the final card into position, “you will never truly be happy unless you are with them.”

“A lot of people go through life not being happy,” Jason replied, his eyes returning to the window. The ground crew had scattered, and the plane was starting to move toward the runway.

“You are not ‘a lot of people’,” Rita retorted, glaring at the stewardess who had just asked her to shut her laptop off during the flight. “You are a very special young man, Ranger or not. You have a special destiny, and trust me, it lies with Kimberly and Tommy. No matter how hard you fight it, sooner or later your destiny will return you to Angel Grove ...and them.”

“You sound pretty sure of it.”

Rita smiled. “I’m a witch. We know karma when we see it.”

“Maybe,” Jason finally conceded. “But for now, I just want to go somewhere and get things straight. Is that asking so much?” The plane was speeding up, slowly ascending into the air. For a brief moment Jason was the Red Ranger once more, the master of the Red Dragonzord, flying headlong into danger and loving every minute of it. Then the memory faded, and he was back in the plane, talking to a ten thousand year old woman who was entirely too smug for her own good.

“You’ll see,” she said enigmatically. “I have.” Rita smiled one more time, then pulled a manila folder out of her briefcase and started to read.

“So...what are you looking at?” he asked casually.

“Oh, a few prospectuses,” she said without looking up. “I’m looking for a few good opportunities.”

“Found anything worth investing in?”

Rita nodded. “The nine of you, for openers.”

Chuckling, Jason turned to look out the window; Angel Grove was growing smaller and further away with every second, and he suddenly felt very vulnerable. His old life was closed and put away, and his future beckoned, dark, mysterious and exciting. But that was several hours and another coast away.

Sighing one final time, he pulled down the window blind, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written about 20 years ago. That still amazes me for some strange reason. 
> 
> The credit, or perhaps the blame, for this novella rests with Mary Bloemker. At the 1993 MediaWestCon she told us about this wild show called “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers”, how we ought to see it, and by the way, in one episode they fought a giant armadillo. Why not come up Sunday and watch it, just to see what it’s like?
> 
> In case you didn’t know, I collect armadillo memorabilia. I’ve amassed quite a considerable collection over the years, in no small part due to the efforts of my friends (if nothing else, it makes Christmas and birthday shopping somewhat easier for them). So I was intrigued enough to take a look. . .and from that moment, I was hooked. It was such a goofy, silly show that I couldn’t help but like it. And Mary was so impressed with certain elements (read: beefcake) that she set out to record the first and second season episodes.
> 
> During one episode the Rangers ended up at Billy’s house. He’d converted the garage into his personal lab, and The Redhead at some point commented, “With those glasses, those brains, and those goofy inventions, this has to be a Spengler”. So we got to goofing around with the notion of Egon finding out his nephew was running around in spandex, manning giant robots and saving the world every afternoon at 4:00. And of course, where Egon goes, so goes Janine. At least in my universe, which for all intents and purposes is the universe where my prior novellas (PERFECT WORLD and ALL HALLOWS EVE) take place.
> 
> Along the way we worked Scorpina in there somehow (I am a charter member of the Original Scorpina Fan Club, and there are other members, before you ask), and based on Rita’s original assessment of Tommy in “Green With Evil” (she gets an incredibly lusty look in her eyes and says, “Oooh, did you see that guy? He’d make a wonderful Green Ranger!”), and Jason’s strange behavior when Tommy temporarily left the team in the second season, it kind of took off from there... into this.
> 
> I just never thought I’d put it down on paper.
> 
> Oh, yeah. The title comes from one of several public service announcements the Power Rangers did--Fox aired these immediately after the program, so as to squeeze one last moral lesson to the boys and girls. This one had Amy Jo Johnson (Kim) and David Yost (Billy) emphasizing that MMPR was pretend, and doing the stunts they did could end up hurting yourself, property and other people. Did a lot of good, huh?
> 
> Most if not all the plot points in this tale are from the many “stories” Mary and I concocted over time (hey, Illinois is so boring, you have to do SOMETHING to pass the time on the way to and from Indianapolis). There are a few surprises here and there--for one thing, Zack and Rocky, who were never really favorites of mine, came out as incredibly likable here. And if Kimberly and Janine seem to be getting more than their share of the smart remarks...well, I concede a weakness for witty women. But The Redhead was instrumental in the plotting... and the proofreading and editing.
> 
> Shelby didn’t have that much to do with this novella, but hey, she is my daughter, so she gets a mention. After all, she is the result of my best collaborative effort.
> 
> The aforementioned Mary Bloemker read every draft and offered a great deal of commentary, as well as veiled threats regarding my future if I didn’t get the critter finished.
> 
> During the second draft, I found myself extremely disgusted with the monster I’d come up with for Zedd; Steve Swope just happened to design a creation for the St. Louis Costumer’s Guild newsletter that worked perfectly, so I used the idea here with his permission. You really don’t want to know what the original monster was. Trust me.
> 
> So please enjoy. This is still one of my favorite stories.


End file.
